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STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO  •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON   •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


AUGUST   KARL  REISCHAUER,    M.A.,  D.D.,   187!t- 

Seventh  Lecturer  upon  Deems  Foundation 
Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Systematic  Theology,  Meiji  (iakuin,  Tokyo,  Japan 


STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE 
BUDDHISM 


MAR  26  1918 


::<,,:    ■u:.-'' 


BY 


AUGUST   KARL   REISCHAUER 

PROFESSOR    IN    MEIJI    GAKUIN 
TOKYO,   JAPAN 


N£ta  gotk 

THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1917 

All  rights  reserved 


COPTEISHT,    1917, 

By  the   MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  September,  191 7. 


Kortoool)  ^xtBS 

J.  S.  Cashing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


MY  WIFE 


PREFATORY   NOTE 

The  present  volume  contains  the  seventh  course  of  lectures 
offered  by  New  York  University  upon  the  foundation  known 
as  the  Charles  F.  Deems  Lectureship  of  Philosophy.  The 
University  contracted  April  15,  1895,  with  the  American 
Institute  of  Christian  Philosophy,  a  corporation  chartered 
December  1,  1891,  that  the  University  would  maintain  said 
lectureship  for  at  least  twenty  years  by  securing  biennially 
a  Lecturer,  eminent  in  Science  and  Philosophy,  who  should 
treat  in  not  less  than  six  lectures  some  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant questions  of  Science  and  Philosophy,  with  a  special 
reference  to  its  relation  to  the  revealed  truths  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  and  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  Theistic 
Philosophy. 

The  Lecturer  was  to  be  chosen  by  the  University's  Com- 
mittee upon  the  Charles  F.  Deems  Lectureship,  which  was 
to  consist  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  University,  two  members 
of  the  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Science  and  two  members  of  the 
University  Council,  to  be  named  as  the  Council  may  direct. 
The  subject  for  each  year's  lectures  was  to  be  agreed  upon 
between  this  Committee  and  the  Lecturer. 

The  University  provided,  free  of  charge,  a  room  for  the 
lectures,  and  at  its  own  expense,  made  due  public  announce- 
ment of  the  time  and  place  of  each  lecture.  The  U^niversity 
was  to  publish,  in  book  form,  each  series  of  lectures,  and 
put  the  same  on  sale  with  one  or  more  reputable  book  firms, 
provided  this  could  be  done  without  further  expense  than 
could  be  met  by  the  accumulation  of  income  over  and  above 
the  expense  of  maintaining  the  lectures. 

vii 


viii  PREFATORY  NOTE 

The  several  volumes  of  lectures  upon  the  Deems  Founda- 
tion have  been  published  as  follows  : 

1.  "Theism  in  the  Light  of  Present  Science  and  Phi- 
losophy," by  James  Iverach,  M.A.,  D.D. :  The  Macmillan 
Company,  New  York  and  London. 

2.  "Theism,"  by  Borden  P.  Bowne,  D.D.,  Professor  of 
Philosophy  in  Boston  University  :  American  Book  Company, 
New  York,  Cincinnati  and  Chicago. 

3.  "Religions  of  Eastern  Asia,"  by  Horace  Grant  Under- 
wood, D.D. :    The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York. 

4.  "The  Teaching  of  Paul  in  Terms  of  the  Present  Day," 
by  Sir  William  Mitchell  Ramsay,  D.C.L. :  Hodder  &  Stough- 
ton,  London   New  York  and  Toronto. 

5.  "Ethics  and  Modern  Thought  — A  Theory  of  Their 
Relations,"  by  Rudolf  Eucken,  Professor  of  Philosophy, 
University  of  Jena :  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York  and 
London. 

6.  The  failure  of  the  health  of  the  late  Principal  Fair- 
bairn  of  Oxford,  England,  after  the  delivery  of  his  lectures, 
prevented  the  preparation  of  them  for  the  press. 

7.  The  present  volume  published  by  The  IMacmillan 
Company,  the  seventh  and  concluding  volume  of  the  first 
series  of  lectures,  is  from  the  pen  of  the  youngest  of  the  seven 
lecturers  upon  this  Foundation. 

Dr.  August  Karl  Reischauer  was  born  in  Jonesboro, 
Illinois,  September  fourth,  1879,  and  was  therefore  in  his 
thirty-fourth  year  when  he  lectured  upon  the  Deems  Founda- 
tion, being  the  first  of  the  lecturers  who  was  under  forty 
years  of  age.  He  studied  at  Hanover  College,  Indiana,  and 
the  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago ;  and  after 
his  ordination  in  1905,  went  at  once  to  Japan  to  teach  Ethics 
and  Philosophy  in  the  mission  college  in  the  south  part  of  the 
city  of  Tokyo,  the  school  being  called  Meiji  Gakuin,  in 
honor  of  the  Meiji  era  of  the  history  of  Japan,  which  was 
ushered  in  in  the  year  of  1868  by  the  abolition  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Shoguns  and  the  replacing  in  supreme  power 
of  the  Mikado,  who  had  for  centuries  been  kept  in  sub- 
jection to  the  military  Shogunate.     He  has  published  in 


PREFATORY  NOTE  ix 

Japan  a  catechism  on  Buddhism  of  the  Shin  Sect,  Buddhist 
Gold  Nuggets,  and  a  treatise  on  personal  immortality. 
Dr.  Reischauer's  lectures  on  the  Deems  Foundation  have 
not  appeared  earlier  because  he  did  not  return  to  Japan 
for  some  months  after  their  delivery  and  required  consider- 
able time  for  preparing  them  for  the  press.  No  libraries 
outside  of  Japan  contain  more  than  a  mere  fraction  of  the 
Buddhist  authorities  from  whose  writings  the  material  of 
these  lectures  was  obtained. 

The  lecturer  in  his  first  lecture  presented  Buddhist  Origins. 
In  the  second  he  traced  the  development  of  Primitive  Bud- 
dhism into  the  Mahayana  Buddhism,  this  form  of  Buddhism 
having  the  lead  in  Japan.  He  presented  in  his  third  lecture 
the  historical  development  of  Japanese  Buddhism.  His 
fourth  lecture  discussed  the  Buddhist  Canon.  In  his  fifth 
he  sketched  the  Japanese  Sects  and  their  chief  tenets  and  in 
the  sixth  Buddhist  Ethics.  The  closing  lecture  presented, 
in  comparison  with  Buddhism,  the  strength  of  Christianity 
in  Japan. 

The  twenty  years'  contract  between  the  American  In- 
stitute of  Christian  Philosophy  and  New  York  University 
having  expired  by  limitation,  these  two  parties  are  now 
considering  the  question  of  renewing  the  same.  It  falls  to 
me  as  both  a  member  of  the  University  Committee  and 
President  of  the  Institute  of  Philosophy  to  supply  this 
prefatory  statement. 

HENRY  MITCHELL  MacCRACKEN. 

University  Heights, 
New  York  City. 


AUTHOR'S   PREFACE 

In  sending  this  book  forth  to  the  public  I  am  keenly 
aware  of  the  fact  that  the  magnitude  of  the  subject  with 
which  it  deals  is  such  that  it  may  seem  absurd  to  try  to 
cover  it  in  such  a  short  space.  Any  one  chapter  might 
easily  be  expanded  into  a  large  volume  without  even  then 
going  into  very  great  details.  And  yet  I  feel  that  a  gen- 
eral, brief  survey  of  the  subject,  such  as  this  book  tries  to 
give,  is  on  the  whole  the  wisest  plan  when  one  considers 
the  present  degree  of  interest  in  Oriental  religions  and 
philosophies  on  the  part  of  Western  readers.  There  is 
still  so  very  little  in  English  books  on  Japanese  Buddhism 
of  even  a  general  character  that  no  author  can  hope  to  get 
much  of  a  hearing  who  does  not  confine  himself  largely  to 
merely  the  outstanding  facts  and  characteristics  of  his 
theme.  Then  further  should  it  be  said  that  even  the  inter- 
ested student  who  enters  this  field  must  ever  be  on  his 
guard  lest  in  the  multiplicity  of  the  details  —  and  in  Japan- 
ese Buddhism  there  is  a  wealth  of  this  —  he  lose  sight  of 
the  main  trend  of  the  subject. 

As  stated  in  the  preface  by  Dr.  H.  M.  MacCracken,  this 
volume  comprises  the  Deems  Lectures  for  the  year  1913,  but 
it  should  be  said  that  the  lectures  as  originally  given  have 
been  almost  entirely  rewritten  and  considerably  expanded. 
The  form  of  the  lectures  has,  however,  determined  in 
general  the  main  trend  of  thought  in  the  book 

Naturally  I  feel  myself  indebted  to  a  great  many  writers 
and  to  other  friends  with  whom  I  have  talked  on  this  great 
subject  during  my  eleven  years  of  residence  in  Tokyo.  This, 
as  far  as  books  written  in  European  languages  are  concerned, 
has  been  partly  acknowledged,  but  I  wish  to  make  special 
mention  here  of  the  late  Professor  Arthur  Lloyd,  whose  pioneer 
work  was  of  great  value  to  me  at  the  beginning  of  my  studies 

xi 


xii  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

when  Japanese  authors  were  still  "closed  books."  My  debt 
to  these  Japanese  writers  is  such  that  I  shall  not  even  attempt 
to  acknowledge  it  properly.  In  closing  I  only  wish  to  men- 
tion the  names  of  Professors  G.  Kato  and  M.  Nagai  of  the 
Tokyo  Imperial  University  and  Professor  S.  Tajima  of  INIeiji 
Gakuin  for  their  kind  assistance  in  preparing  the  bibliography 
of  Japanese  books,  which  it  is  hoped  may  prove  of  help  to 
the  student  who  desires  to  pursue  further  his  studies  in  this 
immense,  and  to  the  Western  scholar  practically  unknown, 

field. 

AUGUST  KARL  REISCHAUER. 
Meiji  Gakuin, 
Tokyo. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 


The  rival  claims  of  four  religions  —  Religious  bewil- 
derment—  Religious  syncretism  —  Old  or  new  possess 
the  field  —  Buddhism  still  strong  —  Importance  of  study- 
ing old  religions  —  What  is  Buddhism  ?  —  Great  divi- 
sions and  definitions. 

Chapter  I.     Buddhist  Origins 13 

A.  Gautama's  Environment 14 

India's  pre-Buddhist  history  —  Its  religious  literature 

—  Varied  stages  of  thought  —  Pre-Buddhist  God-idea, 
soul-theory,  transmigration  and  Karma  —  General  social 
and  religious  condition  —  Signs  of  a  better  day. 

B.  The  Buddha's  Life  and  Teaching 22 

Place  and  time  of  birth  —  His  family  and  training  — 
His  great  quest  —  General  philosophic  presuppositions 
of  his  teachings,  or  the  Three  Conceptions  —  Four  Noble 
Truths  —  Noble  Eightfold  Path  —  Gautama's  system  a 
practical  ethic  and  a  reduction  —  The  great  Intermedi- 
ates—  Karma  and  the  self — The  Buddha's  mode  of 
salvation  —  Peculiar  emphasis  of  his  system  —  Not  an 
avowed  atheist  though  God-idea  reduced  to  a  minimum 

—  Strong  and  weak  points. 

C.  Success  of  the  New  Religion 41 

Requirements  of  discipleship  —  Gautama's  mode  of 
life  —  Obstacles  to  the  new  faith  —  Dissensions  within 

—  The  woman  problem  —  Gautama's  last  days,  death 
and  burial  —  Gautama  better  than  his  teachings. 

xiii 


xiv  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Chapter  II.     Development  of  Primitive  Buddhism  into 

Mahayana  Buddhism 51 

A.  Buddhism  of  Asoka's  Day 52 

Asoka  as  a  patron  of  Buddhism  —  Great  Buddhist 
Council  —  Reforms  and  missionary  propaganda  —  Bud- 
dhism becomes  a  world  religion  —  Changes  coming  over 
Gautama's  religion. 

B.  Rise  of  Mahayana  Buddhism 57 

Germs  of  the  new  type  —  The  founder  deified  — 
Arhat  and  Bodhisattva  ideals  —  Metaphysical  specula- 
tions become  characteristic  —  Causes  of  these  changes 

—  Possible  Western  influences  —  Sources  of  change 
essentially  Indian  —  Asvaghosha,  Nagarjuna,  Asanga 
and  Vasubandhu  —  Possible  Christian  influence. 

C.  Spread  of  Buddhism  through  China         ....      70 

Introduction  —  Slow  progress  at  first  —  Not  pure 
Buddhism  —  Importation  of  scriptures  and  their  trans- 
lation —  Anshikao  and  Lokaraksha  —  Growing  popu- 
larity in  fifth  century  —  Pilgrimages  to  India  and  effect 

—  Bodhi  Dharma  —  Persecutions  by  Confucianists  — 
Buddhism  and  the  Chinese  genius  —  Extension  of  Bud- 
dhism to  Korea. 

Chapter  III.     Developments  of  Buddhism  in  Japan         .      79 

A.  Introduction  into  Japan 79 

Historic  connections  between  Japan  and  Korea  — 
Buddhist  Mission  well  received  —  Opposition  of  the 
conservatives  —  Social  and  religious  condition  in  sixth 
century  —  Buddhism  as  vehicle  of  superior  civilization 
of  the  continent. 

B.  Rise  of  the  Six  Nara  Sects 85 

Sanron,  Jojitsu,  Hosso,  Kusha,  Kegon  and  Ritsu  — 
Spread  of  general  culture  and  development  of  art  in 
Nara  period  —  Worldly  ambitions  and  political  power 
of  the  monks. 

C.  Kyoto  Sects 89 

Emperor  Kwammu  and  the  monks — Founding  of 
new  capital  at  Kyoto  —  Dengyo  Daishi  and  Tendai  Sect 

—  K5b6  Daishi  and  Shiugon  Sect  —  Religious  syncre- 
tism —  Buddhist  influence  and  Kyoto's  splendor  — 
Worldly  ambitions  and  spiritual  decline  of  Kyoto  sects. 


\/ 


CONTENTS  XV 

PAGE 

D.  The  Sects  of  the  Great  Awakening 102 

A  voice  in  the  wilderness  —  Genshin  —  Ryonin  and 
first  Amida  Sect  —  Amidaism  in  pre-Amida  sects  — 
Honen  and  Jodo  Sect  —  Shinran  and  Shin  Sect  —  Com- 
parison with  the  Buddhism  of  Gautama  —  Zen  sects, 
Rinzai  and  Soto  —  Nichiren  and  the  Nichiren  Sect  — 
Ji  Sect  —  Buddhism  of  Kamakura  period  a  real  con- 
tribution to  a  world  religion  —  Buddhism  becomes 
indigenous  to  Japan. 

E.  Political  Strife  and  Religious  Decline      .         .         .         .     131 

Civil  wars  of  Ashikaga  period  —  Outward  prosperity 
of  temples  and  prestige  of  monks  —  Spiritual  impover- 
ishment —  A  few  good  points  in  Buddhism  of  this 
period. 

F.  Religion  in  the  Tokugawa  Period 136 

Reconstruction  days  —  Catholic  mission  —  The  Great 
Trio  —  Catholics  versus  Buddhists  —  Closing  the  doors 
of  Japan  and  suppression  of  Christianity  —  Partial  re- 
vival of  Buddhism  —  Obaku  Sect  —  Neo-Conf ucianism 
the  main  source  of  spiritual  life  —  Neo-Shinto  —  Oppo- 
sitions to  Buddhism —  Mito  School  and  the  Restoration. 

G.  Buddhism  in  Meiji  Era 152 

Buddhism  disestablished  as  state  religion  —  New 
propaganda  —  Present-day  sects  and  their  numerical 
strength. 

Chapter  IV.  The  Bubdhist  Canon  as  Known  in  Japan  158 
Size  of  Northern  canon,  or  canons  —  Chinese  cata- 
logues of  canons —  Standard  Japanese  edition  —  Varied 
and  contradictory  contents — Pali  canon — Mahayana  and 
Hinayana  divisions  —  SUtra,  Vinaya  and  Abhidharma 
Pitakas  —  Dates  and  various  redactions  of  canons  — 
Chi  K'ais  harmonization  —  Controversies  between  con- 
servatives and  liberals  over  relation  between  Hinayana 
,  and  Mahayana  —  Difficulty  of  knowing  historic  facts  — 

Valuable  by-products  —  Varied  use  of  scriptures  by  the 
different  sects — Attempts  to  popularize  scriptures  to-day. 

Chapter  V.    Outline  of   Main   Doctrines  of  Japanese 

Buddhism         . 183 

A.   Summary  Statement 183 


xvi  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

B.  Theory  of  Knowledge 184 

Accommodated  truth  and  absolute  truth  —  Nescience 
and  the  Karma  chain  with  Ignorance  as  first  link. 

C.  Buddhist  World  Views 192 

Hinayana  world  view  —  The  Two  Spheres  —  Analyt- 
ical study  of  matter  and  mind  —  Apparent  Mahayana 
world  view,  reality  as  void  —  True  Mahayana  world 
view,  or  the  Middle  Way  —  The  essence  of  reality. 

D.  The  Pluralistic  World  of  Experience       .         ,         .         .199 

The  Two  Spheres  — The  Three  Worlds  — The  time- 
less, boundless  cosmos  —  The  Three  Realms  —  The  Six 
Ways  — The  Four  Holies  — The  Ten  Worlds. 

E.  The  God-idea  of  Japanese  Buddhism      ....     210 

Popular  and  philosophic  ideas  widely  different  — 
Atheistic  sects  -^  Theistic  sects  not  true  theism  —  Pan- 
theistic sects  —  The  agnostic  background  of  all  philo- 
sophic conceptions  —  Religion  of  masses  polytheistic  — 
List  of  popular  deities  —  Pantheism  as  philosophic  back- 
ground of  popular  polytheism -i  Nobler  conceptions  of 
God  held  by  some. 

F.  Man  and  His  Condition 233 

The  origin  and  nature  of  man  —  IVIidway  in  the  scale 
of  beings — Man's  present  condition  —  Human  life  es- 
sentially evil  —  The  cause  of  evil. 

G.  Salvation 240 

The  essence  and  goal  of  salvation  —  An  escape  from 
evil  —  An  entrance  into  bliss  —  Salvation  a  matter  of 
degrees  —  Meaning  of  Nirvana  and  Buddha  state  — 
Paradise  and  personal  immortality  —  A  shadowy  hope 
undermined  by  agnostic  spirit  —  Popular  views  crudely 
realistic  —  Conception  of  salvation  as  a  life  of  righteous- 
ness not  very  strong  —  The  Way  to  Salvation  —  The  Way 
of  the  Law  and  th6  Way  of  Grace  —  Philosophic  wisdom 
and  religious  faith  — ^  The  Way  of  Grace  compared  with 
Christian  conception  —  How  it  breaks  down  philosoph- 
ically and  in  its  popular  form  —  The  extent  and  the 
"  speed  "  of  salvation. 

H.  Things  to  Come 264 

Things  to  come  in  near  future  —  Wheel  of  life  keeps 
revolving  —  Glorious  triumph  of  Buddhism  when  Bud- 
dhist Messiah  appears  —  Things   to  come   in   distant 


CONTENTS  xvii 


PAGE 


future  —  The  four  periods  of  a  universe,  Formation, 
Inhabitation,  Destruction  and  Void  —  The  endless 
repetition. 

Chapter  VI.     Buddhist  Ethics 268 

A.  General  Aspects 268 

Divorcing  religion  and  ethics — The  philosophy  of 
the  Good  —  The  Arhat  and  Bodhisattva  ideals  —  En- 
lightenment of  the  mind  rather  than  enrichment  of  the 
entire  personality  —  Mahayana  ethics  more  altruistic  — 
Contradiction  between  Buddhist  psychology  and  the 
goal  of  Buddhist  ethics. 

B.  The  Vices  and  Virtues 277 

The  vices  —  Ignorance  expressing  itself  in  egoism  as 
the  cardinal  vice  —  Primary  vices  —  Secondary  vices  — 
Sin  as  a  mere  mistake  —  The  virtues  —  Enlightenment 
or  the  "breaking  of  error"  as  the  cardinal  virtue  — 
Virtue  not  positive  and  frequently  stated  in  negative 
terms  —  List  of  virtues  —  Difference  of  standards  for 
priests  and  laymen  —  The  special  virtues. 

C.  Buddhist   Gold   Nuggets,  or   Choice   Quotations   from 
Some  of  the  Leading  Buddhist  Scriptures       .         .         .     283 

Chapter  VII.     The  Place  of  Buddhism  in  Japanese  Life 

—  Past,  Present  and  Future    .....     295 

A.  The  Influence  in  the  Past 295 

A  difficult  question  to  determine  —  A  vehicle  of  the 
superior  civilization  of  the  continent  —  It  disseminated 
general  culture  —  It  created  some  of  the  arts  and  gi-eatly 
modified  others  —  It  expanded  and  enriched  the  thought- 
life  and  the  religious  life  —  It  brought  a  wealtli  of  the 
externals  of  religion,  religious  art  and  ecclesiastical 
machinery. 

B.  The  Place  of  Buddhism  in  Present-day  Japan         .         .     307 

The  past  conditions  the  present —  Buddhists  not  cre- 
ators of  modern  Japan  —  Considerable  ground  lost  — 
Attempts  at  revival  —  Mostly  imitations  of  Christian 
propaganda  —  Leadership  passing  into  other  hands. 

\    C.    The  Place  of  Buddhism  in  the  Future     .         .         .         .314 
Lack  of  confidence  in  own  future  —  The  reasons  —  A 
criticism  by  a  Japanese  scholar  —  Character  of  the  lead- 


xviii  CONTENTS 

ers  —  Idolatry  and  ignorance  of  the  scriptures  —  Vari- 
ous superstitions  —  Buddhist  pessimism  unsuited  for  a 
progressive  people  —  Buddhist  ethics  based  on  a  world- 
weary  philosophy  of  life  —  Reform  or  revolution  neces- 
sary—  Cardinal  defect  of  Buddhism  its  conception  of 
truth  —  The  baneful  effects  of  its  agnostic  philosophy 
—  Devitalizes  otherwise  good  ethical  teachings  —  Mod- 
ern reformers  and  ethics  without  a  religious  basis  — 
..  Can  Buddhism  lay  hold  on  the  Living  God  and  remain 
Buddhism? —  "  The  old  order  cbangeth." 


PAGB 


STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 


STUDIES  m  JAPANESE 
BUDDHISM 

INTRODUCTION 

Not  many  years  ago  there  was  on  exhibition  in  an  art 
gallery  of  Tokyo  a  remarkable  picture.  The  picture  was 
not  exactly  a  masterpiece,  but  its  subject  matter  was  ex- 
ceedingly suggestive.  In  the  center  stood  a  child,  and 
grouped  around  it  were  four  men,  each  beckoning  it  to  fol- 
low. On  the  face  of  the  child  was  an  expression  of  bewil- 
derment, of  apparent  perplexity  as  to  what  it  should  do. 
The  child  was  meant  to  represent  Japan,  and  the  four  men 
represented  a  Shinto  priest,  Confucius,  Gautama  Buddha 
and  Jesus.  The  average  visitor  to  the  gallery  gave  this 
picture  little  more  than  a  passing  glance,  but  to  the  student 
of  modern  Japan  it  was  of  deep  interest. 

If  there  is  anything  characteristic  of  the  life  of  the  rising 
generation  in  Japan,  especially  of  its  thought-life  and  the 
realm  of  things  spiritual,  it  is  bewilderment  and  confusion ; 
for  Japan  is  the  meeting  place  of  four  great  religions,  viz., 
Shinto,  Confucianism,  Buddhism  and  Christianity,  not  to 
mention  other  thought  and  life  currents  which  have  been 
pouring  into  this  land  from  all  parts  of  the  world  during 
the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  youth 
of  Japan  especially  should  be  like  the  child  in  the  picture  — 
confused  and  perplexed  as  to  whom  or  what  they  should 
follow.  On  the  one  hand  are  the  voices  and  beckonings 
of  the  past  —  the  thought-currents  and  life  habits  and  cus- 
toms of  their  fathers.  These  they  would  follow  instinc- 
tively.    But  on  the  other  hand  they  hear  the  persistent 


2  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 

callings  of  the  new  and  more  alluring  voices  of  the  present 
and  the  future,  wooings  of  western  life  and  civilization. 
These  seem  to  promise  more  than  the  old,  but  threaten  if 
followed  unreservedly  to  make  too  great  the  chasm  between 
the  Japanese  people  of  to-day  and  past  generations. 

There  is,  of  course,  no  insuperable  difficulty  in  readjust- 
ing the  old  habits  and  customs  to  fit  in  with  the  new  in  the 
realm  of  the  physical,  though  even  here  it  is  not  as  simple 
as  it  might  seem  to  the  outsider.  To  stand,  for  instance,  at 
a  modern  railway  station  and  listen  to  the  clatter  of  the 
wooden  clogs  as  the  crowds  hurry  up  and  down  the  stairs 
suggests  very  forcibly  that  one  is  hearing  something  of  the 
"clash  of  civilizations."  Or  to  see  aeroplanes  and  diri- 
gibles speeding  over  paddy  fields  in  which  poor  peasants 
are  using  implements  as  primitive  as  those  used  by  Abra- 
ham makes  one  feel  that  modern  Japan  has  still  great 
chasms  to  bridge  in  even  the  physical  realm.  And  even 
where  they  are  being  bridged  the  limited  resources  of  the 
country  tends  to  make  the  economic  readjustments  a  very 
painful  process.  But,  after  all,  it  is  in  the  realm  of  the 
spirit,  in  the  higher  and  deeper  sentiments  and  feelings, 
that  the  real  difficulty  of  readjustment  lies  for  the  present 
generation.  And  what  adds  to  the  difficulty  is  the  fact 
that  among  the  so-called  leaders  in  the  thought-life  of  the 
nation  there  are  so  verv  few  who  reallv  understand  the 
nature  of  the  forces  that  are  at  work.  On  the  one  hand 
are  the  old-fashioned  leaders,  who  would  keep  the  rising 
generation  bound  down  to  the  things  of  the  past.  On 
the  other  hand  are  the  apostles  of  the  new,  who  apparently 
think  that  they  have  done  all  that  is  required  of  them 
when  they  have  doled  out  to  their  followers  the  contents 
of  the  latest  book  that  has  appeared.  Those  who  are  suc- 
cessfully bridging  the  chasm  between  the  old  and  the  new 
are  few  indeed,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  there  should  be  so 
much  confusion  in  the  thought-life  of  modern  Japan. 

But  it  is  not  so  much  the  general  thought-life  of  Japan 
that  we  wish  to  consider  here  as  it  is  the  more  distinc- 
tively religious  life  of  the  nation,  if  it  is  possible  to  separate 


INTRODUCTION  3 

this  from  the  general.  The  picture,  we  said,  represented 
four  great  religions  as  aspiring  to  give  leadership  to  young 
Japan.  This  is  hardly  accurate,  for  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 
three  old  religions  of  Japan  are  not  separate  and  distinct 
from  one  another.  Shinto,  as  we  shall  show  in  Chapter 
III,  though  the  native  religion  of  old  Japan,  was  virtually 
incorporated  into  Buddhism  about  a  thousand  years  ago, 
and  while  it  was  officially  separated  from  the  latter  in  the 
modern  period  it  is  impossible  to  draw  any  clear  line  be- 
tween the  two.  And  Confucianism  really  never  existed 
as  an  independent  religion  in  Japan,  but  was  fostered  largely 
by  Buddhist  leaders  as  a  part  of  their  own  system.  It  is 
true  that  the  Xeo-Confucianism  of  the  Tokugawa  period  had 
a  measure  of  independence  and  even  opposed  Buddhism  to 
some  extent,  but  even  this  was  introduced  and  propagated 
first  bv  Buddhists  and  was  itself  as  much  Buddhism  as 
Confucianism.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  three  old  religions  of 
Japan  have  interpenetrated  each  other  so  completely  that 
the  average  Japanese  for  centuries  has  regarded  himself  as 
more  or  less  of  an  adherent  of  all  three.  It  is  Buddhism, 
however,  which  has  supplied  the  matrix  which  holds  the 
various  elements  together  and  so  it  may  be  said  to  repre- 
sent all  three  in  one.  It  has  so  completely  adapted  it- 
self to  things  Japanese  and  incorporated  everything  that  it 
found  in  its  way  that  one  can  be  a  good  Buddhist  and  not 
be  disloyal  to  an>i:hing  for  which  the  other  two  ever  stood. 
AMien  it  comes,  however,  to  the  fourth  religion,  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  Christ,  the  matter  is  very  different,  for  no 
Japanese  Christian  in  good  and  regular  standing  would 
regard  himself  as  anything  but  a  Christian,  though  he 
would  insist  that  as  such  he  can  retain  all  that  is  good  in 
the  other  three  and  all  that  is  essential  to  make  one  a  true 
and  loyal  citizen  of  the  empire.  And  on  the  other  hand  few 
good  Shintoists,  Confucianists  or  Buddhists  would  pretend  to 
be  also  good  Christians,  for  it  was  the  fashion  for  almost 
three  centuries  to  look  upon  Christianity  as  an  enemy  of 
things  Japanese ;  and  so  the  line  between  it  and  the  old  re- 
ligions is  drawn  rather  sharply.     It  would  therefore  be  more 


4  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 

correct  to  say  that  in  the  realm  of  religion  there  are  two 
that  aspire  to  guide  the  spiritual  destiny  of  this  great  nation. 

One  naturally  wonders  whom  of  these  spiritual  guides 
the  child  of  Japan  will  follow.  There  was  a  time  a  few 
years  ago  —  and  it  is  not  altogether  past  now  —  when  it 
almost  looked  as  if  the  expression  on  the  child's  face  was 
changing  from  one  of  confusion  and  bewilderment  to  one  of 
indifference.  Japan  had  followed  the  old  guide  for  many 
centuries,  sometimes  very  eagerly  and  at  times  only  from 
afar.  But  during  the  last  fifty  years  or  so,  as  the  rising 
tide  of  intelligence  has  made  it  impossible  for  many 
to  rest  content  with  the  beliefs  and  practices  of  the 
past,  there  developed  a  surprising  indifference  to  the  old 
religious  ideals,  and  in  fact  an  indifference  to  religion  as 
such.  But  no  one  familiar  with  human  nature  or  human 
history  can  regard  this  save  as  a  passing  phase,  for  man  is 
"incurably  religious"  and  even  a  Comte  must  have  at 
least  a  "Religion  of  Humanity,"  though  he  may  regard 
the  historic  religions  as  phases  of  life  which  the  race  should 
outgrow  as  it  advances.  There  are  abundant  signs  that 
this  indifference  to  religion  so  characteristic  of  young  Japan 
a  few  years  ago  was  only  a  temporary  phenomenon.  There 
is  now  again  a  remarkable  interest  in  spiritual  things,  though 
it  is  perhaps  too  early  to  say  to  whom  on  the  whole  Japan 
will  turn  for  leadership. 

There  are  those  who  hold  that  Japan  will  neither  follow 
her  old  religious  guides  nor  turn  to  the  old  religion  of  the 
West  newly  introduced,  but  that  there  will  have  to  be  a 
New  Religion  if  her  allegiance  is  to  be  won.  This  new  re- 
ligion may  borrow  some  things  from  the  old  but  not  ex- 
clusively from  any  one  of  them  or  all  of  them.  It  will  have 
to  be  a  sort  of  syncretism  made  up  from  the  best  elements 
that  can  be  gotten  together,  no  matter  from  where  they 
come.  Just  as  in  other  spheres  Japan  has  borrowed  the  best 
that  could  be  found  and  adapted  these  things  to  her  needs ; 
so  she  must  do  in  religious  matters.  One  can  only  smile 
at  the  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  religion  and  religious 
history  which  underlies  this  view,  for  while  it  is  quite  pos- 


INTRODUCTION  5 

sible  for  a  New  Religion  to  arise,  it  is  rather  certain  that 
it  will  not  come  into  existence  as  a  result  of  a  few  wise  heads 
getting  together  and  saying  to  one  another,  "  Come  now,  let 
us  tear  down  our  old  religions  and  from  the  best  fragments 
let  us  build  up  something  new  which  will  fit  our  case  better." 

Then  again  there  are  those  who  would  seek  to  harmonize 
the  claims  of  the  existing  religions  by  emphasizing  the  thought 
that  all  religions  are  but  different  forms  of  one  and  the  same 
phenomenon,  and  that  therefore  at  bottom  they  are  essen- 
tially the  same.  And  since  all  religions  are  made  of  essen- 
tially the  same  stuff,  there  ought  to  be  no  insuperable  ob- 
stacle in  fusing  them  into  one  grand  whole;  if  not  into 
an  organic  union,  then  at  least  into  one  great  cooperative 
enterprise  for  promoting  righteousness  and  peace. 

In  so  far  as  these  broad-minded  leaders  would  do  away 
with  the  bitter  jealousies  and  strifes  between  the  existing 
religions,  one  cannot  but  have  profound  respect  for  their 
good  intentions;  but  when  their  efforts  are  based  on  the 
assumption  that  all  religions  are  essentially  one  in  their 
great  fundamentals  and  differ  only  on  minor  points  or  ex- 
pression, one  can  only  pity  their  lack  of  understanding.  Of 
course,  there  is  a  sense  in  which  all  historical  religions  may 
be  said  to  be  but  different  forms  of  Religion,  i.e.  different 
aspects  of  one  and  the  same  reality,  but  this  is  true  only  in 
such  a  general  sense  that  the  statement  is  practically  mean- 
ingless. The  very  fact  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  make 
a  definition  of  religion  which  is  anything  but  an  empty 
generalization  which  includes  all  only  because  it  includes 
really  nothing  very  vital  of  any,  should  be  sufficient  proof. 
Even  in  such  advanced  religions  as  Buddhism  and  Chris- 
tianity the  radical  differences  in  fundamentals  ought  to  be 
apparent  to  any  one  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  their  central 
teachings.  It  is  inconceivable  that  the  two  could  ever  be 
merged  into  one  without  one  or  the  other  giving  up  some  of 
its  essential  characteristics.  Of  course,  it  is  quite  possible 
that  Buddhism  would  be  willing  to  compromise  with  Chris- 
tianity and  seek  to  absorb  it  just  as  it  has  done  with  other 
religions  with  which  it  has  come  into  contact,  but  that  is 


6  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 

only  possible  because  Japanese  Buddhism  really  stands  for 
nothing  definite  and  is  made  up  of  the  most  glaring  contra- 
dictions in  even  fundamentals.  It  is  impossible  to  think 
that  intelligent  Christians  would  be  willing  to  be  merged  into 
a  sj'stem  which  would  both  afiirm  and  deny  at  one  and  the 
same  time  everything  vital  for  which  they  stood.  Not 
only  does  Christianity  differ  from  Buddhism  in  the  answers 
which  it  makes  to  the  great  problems  of  life,  but  because 
of  this  difference  the  atmosphere  in  which  Christians  live 
their  daily  life  and  do  the  work  of  the  world  is  not  that 
of  the  typical  Buddhist.  This  will  appear  as  we  proceed 
with  our  study  of  Japanese  Buddhism  in  these  pages. 
Here  we  simply  wish  to  state  that  those  who  regard 
Buddhism  and  Christianity  as  in  substantial  agreement 
on  the  fundamentals  of  religion  may  be  nearer  the  truth 
than  the  old-fashioned  polemists  who  conveniently  marked 
all  religions  other  than  their  own  as  false,  but  they  are  not 
very  much  nearer. 

Now  in  the  third  place  there  are  representatives  of  the 
old  religions  of  Japan  who,  realizing  that  their  religion  has 
lost  a  good  deal  of  ground  in  recent  years,  nevertheless  be- 
lieve that  the  situation  can  be  redeemed  by  making  certain 
reforms  and  so  winning  back  the  affection  of  the  people. 
Thus  there  are  signs  on  all  hands  of  a  certain  kind  of  vitality 
both  in  Shinto  and  in  some  of  the  more  progressive  sects 
of  Buddhism.  These  reforms,  however,  are  little  more 
than  patching  up  a  few  glaring  defects  of  the  old  by  bor- 
rowing certain  strong  points  from  Christianity,  and  they  do 
not  go  deep  enough  to  make  the  old  religions  adequate 
for  modern  conditions.  In  fact  many  an  adherent  of  the 
old  is  apparently  fearful  that  the  great  days  of  his  faith  are 
past  forever  and  that  the  future  is  very  uncertain.  That 
is,  there  is  no  very  widespread  confidence  on  the  part  of  the 
adherents  of  the  old  in  the  future  of  their  own  religion. 

And  finally  there  are  the  representatives  of  Christianity 
who  believe  that  the  future  belongs  largely  to  them.  In 
fact  that  is  one  of  the  great  characteristics  of  Japanese 
Christians  which  distinguishes  them  from  the  followers  of 


INTRODUCTION  7 

the  old  faiths,  they  have  confidence  in  the  future  of  their 
own  rehgion.  The  child  Japan,  they  believe,  will  follow 
Jesus  Christ  as  its  guide,  and  it  is  this  faith  that  is  over- 
coming the  difficulties  in  the  way.  The  measure  of  success 
which  Christianity  is  having  in  Japan  justifies  this  belief, 
but  at  the  same  time  there  is  also  good  reason  to  believe 
that  the  victory  will  not  be  an  easy  one.  The  old  religions 
of  Japan  are  not,  as  some  seem  to  think,  about  ready  to 
give  up  the  field.  Though  it  is  true  that  they  do  not  have 
the  hold  on  the  hearts  of  the  people  they  once  had,  this 
does  not  mean  that  Christianity  therefore  has  an  easy  task. 
When  the  late  Bishop  Honda  of  the  Japanese  Methodist 
Church  was  once  asked  what  he  thought  of  the  great  motto, 
"The  Evangelization  of  the  World  in  This  Generation," 
he  replied  very  modestly,  "  It  is  a  good  motto,  a  very  good 
motto  for  this  generation;  and  I  think  it  will  be  a  good 
motto  for  the  next  generation  too." 

The  view  that  the  religions  of  the  Orient  are  one  and 
all  like  tottering  castles  of  antiquity  which  will  soon  crumble 
to  dust  betrays  a  rather  shallow  knowledge  of  the  real 
nature  of  religion.  It  seems  to  regard  religion  as  an  ex- 
ternal something,  a  garment  which  can  be  cast  off  as  the 
style  changes.  As  a  matter  of  fact  nothing  changes  as 
slowly  as  a  nation's  religion  and  religious  customs.  Japan, 
e.g.,  has  changed  its  army  and  navy  from  a  medieval  type 
to  one  thoroughly  modern  and  strictly  up-to-date,  within  the 
space  of  a  few  decades.  Her  educational  system,  her  trans- 
portation facilities  and  industrial  enterprises  have  likewise 
been  revolutionized  within  that  period.  But  w^ith  her  re- 
ligion the  matter  stands  quite  different.  A  Constantine  may 
make  Christianity  the  state  religion  overnight,  and  Jap- 
anese officials  once  thought  of  doing  the  same,  but  that 
would  be  only  changing  a  name.  For  the  thought-life  of  a 
nation  and  the  spirit  of  a  people  to  be  made  Christian  even 
to  the  extent  to  which  this  has  been  accomplished  in  some 
of  our  western  nations  (there  is,  of  course,  no  such  thing 
as  a  Christian  nation  anywhere),  will  take  decades  and 
perhaps  centuries.     Wliatever  one  may  think  of  the  place 


8  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 

which  the  old  rehgions  of  Japan,  and  Buddhism  in  particu- 
lar, will  occupy  in  the  future  of  this  people's  life,  they  are 
forces  with  which  one  must  reckon.  The  influence  of  a 
stream  is  determined  not  only  by  the  direction  in  which 
the  water  is  flowing  at  any  one  point  and  by  the  speed  and 
volume  of  water,  but  also  by  the  drift  it  scatters  in  its 
way.  And  so  even  if  Buddhism  should  be  a  dried-up  stream, 
as  many  seem  to  think,  the  river  bed  which  it  has  made 
through  Japanese  life  and  the  bowlders  it  has  left  all  over 
these  island  fields  will  determine  to  a  greater  or  lesser  degree 
the  direction  and  speed  of  the  new  currents  of  life  which 
are  flowing  into  this  land  from  other  sources. 

But,  as  we  said,  it  is  as  yet  too  early  to  say  to  whom  Japan 
will  turn  for  leadership,  and  it  is  really  not  our  purpose  to 
discuss  this  in  these  pages.  Our  object  is  rather  to  under- 
stand better  the  history  and  spirit  of  the  old  religions, 
especially  Buddhism,  and  from  this  obtain,  perhaps,  a  better 
insight  into  the  present  situation  and  the  line  of  its  prob- 
able development.  We  shall  confine  ourselves  almost  ex- 
clusively to  a  study  of  Buddhism,  which  we  regard  as  the 
dominant  religious  force  of  Japan.  Shinto  and  Confucian- 
ism we  shall  touch  upon  only  here  and  there,  for  as  we  have 
intimated  above  both  of  these  are  really  embodied  in  the  term 
Buddhism  as  we  know  that  religion  in  Japan. 

But  to  understand  Japanese  Buddhism  even  in  its  main 
outline  is  not  a  simple  matter.  It  is  not  only  that  in  Japan 
Buddhism  has  taken  up  into  itself  everything  which  it  found 
in  its  way,  which  makes  it  difficult  for  the  student,  but 
because  it  had  a  history  of  a  thousand  years  before  it  reached 
these  shores,  and  during  those  long  centuries  it  had  been 
winning  its  victories  by  this  same  method  of  compromise. 
That  is,  when  Buddhism  was  introduced  into  Japan  in  the 
sixth  century  it  had  passed  northwestward  from  India  into 
the  lands  east  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and  then  turned  towards 
the  east,  spreading  gradually  through  China  and  Korea,  and 
all  the  time  gathering  up  into  itself,  like  a  rolling  snowball, 
all  that  it  found  on  its  way.  For  example,  its  canonical 
writings  by  this  time  had  assumed  the  dimension  of  a  good- 


INTRODUCTION  9 

sized  library  containing  upward  of  5000  books.  The  contents 
of  these  books,  written  during  a  period  of  a  thousand  years 
and  by  peoples  of  various  stages  of  civilization,  are  naturally 
very  varied  and  often  flatly  contradictory  even  in  matters 
fundamental.  It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  a  leading  author- 
ity on  Buddhism,  in  trying  to  define  what  the  religion  is, 
could  only  say  that  it  is  the  religion  founded  by  the  Buddha. 
Even  this  was  saying  too  much,  for  the  Buddhism  of  China 
and  Japan  has  perhaps  more  in  it  that  is  contradictory  to 
the  religion  of  the  Buddha  than  what  is  in  agreement  with 
it.  In  fact  Northern  Buddhism,  considered  from  almost  any 
standpoint  one  cares  to  take,  embraces  a  wider  latitude 
of  teachings  and  practices  than  any  other  religious  system. 
Even  in  regard  to  its  inner  spirit  and  life,  which  is  the  true 
measure  of  any  religion,  Buddhism  presents  a  bewildering 
spectacle.  It  is  more  like  a  junk  shop  where  one  can  find 
almost  anything  —  good,  bad  and  indifferent.  There  is  little 
that  has  ever  entered  the  heart  or  mind  of  man  which  does 
not  find  its  counterpart  in  Buddhism  somewhere. 

To  determine,  then,  what  Buddhism  is  as  a  whole,  or 
even  what  Japanese  Buddhism  is,  may  seem  like  undertaking 
the  impossible.  We  know  how  difficult  it  is  to  say  just 
what  are  the  essentials  of  Christianity  and  perhaps  few 
would  agree  entirely;  but,  after  all,  in  Christianity  there 
are  a  few  great  outstanding  ideas  and  ideals  which  would 
generally  be  recognized  as  fundamentals.  For  example,  the 
belief  in  a  personal  God,  the  Heavenly  Father,  the  belief 
in  Jesus  Christ  as  being  in  some  way  the  relevation  of  God's 
love  to  man  and  in  the  Christlike  life  as  being  the  Chris- 
tian's ideal,  and  finally  the  great  hope  that  this  type  of 
life  is  one  which  shall  be  conserved  beyond  the  grave  and 
the  wreck  of  time,  —  these  are  among  the  great  essentials 
to  which  all  Christians,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant, 
conservative  or  liberal,  ancient  or  modern,  would  cling. 
But  in  Buddhism,  whether  we  take  the  religion  as  a  whole, 
or  simply  as  we  find  it  in  Japan,  there  are  radical  differences 
in  even  such  fundamentals  of  religion.  But  this  will  appear 
as  we  proceed  with  our  study.     We  simply  mention  it  here 


10  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 

to  indicate  how  very  difficult  is  our  task  of  trying  to  under- 
stand Japanese  Buddhism. 

Now  in  order  to  have,  as  it  were,  a  norm  by  which  to 
measure  Japanese  Buddhism,  it  becomes  necessary  to  give 
at  least  a  general  outline  of  the  religion  of  the  founder  and 
a  brief  sketch  of  its  development  into  what  we  call  Maha- 
yana  Buddhism.  This  shall  occupy  us  in  our  first  two 
chapters.  But  before  we  come  to  that  we  must  here  make 
a  few  remarks  in  order  to  orient  ourselves  in  Buddhism  as  a 
whole. 

Ordinarily  we  divide  Buddhism  into  two  great  divisions, 
viz.,  Southern  Buddhism  and  Northern  Buddhism.  By  the 
former  is  meant  roughly  the  Buddhism  of  Ceylon,  Burma, 
Siam,  and  French  Indo-China ;  India,  the  birthplace  of  the 
religion,  having  given  up  its  allegiance  to  the  World-Honored 
One  since  about  the  twelfth  century,  though,  of  course, 
the  religious  life  in  India  to  this  day  shows  his  influence. 
By  Northern  Buddhism  we  mean  the  Buddhism  of  China 
{i.e.  Greater  China,  including  Tibet,  East  Turkestan,  Mon- 
golia and  Manchuria),  Korea,  Japan  and  the  lands  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  especially  Nepal,  Bhutan 
and  Sikkim,  The  Buddhists  of  Java  and  Sumatra,  though 
geographically  belonging  to  Southern  Buddhism,  in  point 
of  historic  connection  and  general  type  should  be  classed 
with  Northern  Buddhism.  This  geographical  division  is 
therefore  very  inaccurate  and  should  not  be  regarded  as  of 
much  value. 

Another  way  of  dividing  Buddhism  is  the  classification 
into  Hinayana,  or  Little  Vehicle,  and  Mahayana,  or  Great 
Vehicle ;  the  former  corresponding  roughly  to  Southern 
Buddhism  and  the  latter  to  Northern  Buddhism,  though 
Northern  Buddhism  has  in  its  voluminous  canon  also  prac- 
tically all  the  teachings  found  in  the  Hinayana  school. 
We  shall  explain  the  meaning  of  this  division  more  fully 
in  Chapter  IV ;  only  here  it  should  be  said  that  Hinayana 
Buddhism  is  roughly  speaking  the  Buddhism  of  the  Pali 
scriptures,  which  have  preserved  on  the  whole  the  purest 
form  of  the  religion  of  the  founder.     Mahayana  represents 


INTRODUCTION  11 

in  general  an  expanded  and  developed  Buddhism  which  in 
many  respects,  even  in  things  fundamental,  is  often  radically 
different  from  original  Buddhism.  We  do  not  mean  to 
say  that  Northern  Buddhism  has  not  much  in  it  that  goes 
back  to  the  teachings  of  the  founder  and,  perhaps,  even 
some  things  of  his  life  and  teachings  which  are  not  preserved 
in  the  Pali  literature;  but  there  is  in  it  so  much  that  is 
different  and  even  radically  opposed  to  what  seems  to  have 
been  the  main  thought  and  life  of  Gautama's  religion  that 
we  are  ready  to  accept  this  time-honored  division  of  Hina- 
yana  and  Mahay  ana. 

These  great  differences  in  Buddhism  are,  of  course,  the 
result  of  the  growth  and  expansion  which  this  religion  under- 
went in  the  course  of  its  history  as  it  marched  northward  and 
eastward  through  China,  Korea  and  Japan.  Orthodox 
Buddhists  hold  that  both  these  great  forms  of  their  religion, 
in  spite  of  the  most  glaring  contradictions,  are  the  teaching 
of  the  master,  and  they  resort  to  the  most  elaborate  schemes 
of  harmonization  to  get  rid  of  the  obvious  difficulties.  But 
modern  scholars  are  seeing  more  and  more  clearly  that  it 
is  impossible  that  even  the  main  points  of  Mahayana  and 
Hinayana  Buddhism  could  have  all  come  from  the  same 
mind.  It  seems  rather  certain,  as  we  have  said,  that  the 
Pali  scriptures  of  the  south  contain  on  the  whole  the  purest 
form  of  the  teaching  of  the  Buddha,  though  they  too  show  a 
considerable  development.  Whereas  the  scriptures  of  North- 
ern Buddhism,  which  are  written  parts  in  Sanskrit  and  in  a 
mixed  dialect  of  Sanskrit  and  Middle  Indian,  or  the  Gatha 
dialect,  parts  in  Chinese,  Tibetan,  Mongolian  and  Japanese, 
contain  not  only  what  is  found  in  the  Pali  scriptures  but  a 
great  deal  more.  It  is  this  extra  material  which  leads  the 
Mahayana  Buddhists  to  make  the  claim  that  their  teachings 
are  superior  to  the  Hinayana  and  that  they  represent  the 
full  mind  of  the  master;  but  to  the  unbiased  scholar  it  is 
rather  an  evidence  of  extra  Buddhist  elements  which  came 
in  as  Buddhism  readjusted  itself  to  meet  the  attacks  of  a 
revived  Brahmanism  and  as  it  spread  into  other  countries 
and  tried  to  absorb  the  native  cults  which  it  met  in  its  way. 


12  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 

It  is  the  northern  stream,  i.e.  Mahayana  Buddhism, 
that  is  of  interest  for  our  present  purpose,  for  it  is  this  stream 
which  ultimately  reached  Japan  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century.  But  that  we  may  understand  more  clearly  the 
significance  of  this  northern  stream,  it  becomes  necessary, 
as  we  said  above,  to  take  at  least  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
main  points  of  primitive  Buddhism  and  its  development. 
What,  then,  was  the  religion  of  the  Buddha?  For  only  as 
we  answer  this  question  at  least  approximately  can  we  fully 
appreciate  Northern  Buddhism  and  especially  its  furthest 
development  in  the  Buddhism  of  Japan,  which  in  some  of 
its  branches  seems  Buddhist  only  in  name.  This  we  take 
up  in  Chapter  I. 


CHAPTER  I 

Buddhist  ORiama 

The  main  facts  of  the  life  of  Gautama,  the  founder  of 
Buddhism,  and  the  chief  points  of  the  rehgion  he  proclaimed 
are  gradually  coming  clearer  to  light  from  year  to  year  as  a 
result  of  the  patient  efforts  of  a  certain  group  of  scholars. 
Not  all  that  is  written  on  the  subject  adds  to  our  knowledge ; 
in  fact,  the  majority  of  the  older  popular  books  on  Buddhism 
are  often  very  misleading,  especially  on  the  points  dealing 
with  the  origins  of  Buddhism.  This  is  largely  due  to  the 
fact  that  most  of  these  books  do  not  discriminate  sufficiently 
between  early  and  late  sources.  Thus  we  have,  e.g.,  such  a 
book  as  Sir  Edwin  Arnold's  "The  Light  of  Asia,"  which, 
perhaps,  has  been  read  more  widely  than  any  other  book  on 
Buddhism,  giving  a  picture  of  the  Buddha  and  his  religion, 
not  as  they  were,  but  rather  as  they  appeared  to  a  devout 
Buddhist  poet  who  lived  several  centuries  later.  What  is 
written  about  the  Buddha  and  early  Buddhism  by  the  great 
majority  of  Buddhist  writers,  especially  those  of  China  and 
Japan,  is  even  more  misleading,  as  they  see  the  founder  of 
their  religion  largely  through  the  eyes  of  men  who  wrote 
from  five  hundred  to  a  thousand  years  after  Gautama's  day. 
Not  that  such  pictures  are  wholly  erroneous,  but  that  the 
careful  scholar  should  seek  to  construct  the  picture  from 
the  oldest  sources  available,  rather  than  use  the  sources 
indiscriminately,  is  what  we  mean.  Now  it  is  due,  as  we 
said,  to  the  patient  efforts  of  a  few  careful  scholars  that  grad- 
ually a  few  of  the  real  facts  in  the  case  are  being  brought  to 
the  light  and  cleared  from  the  accretions  of  the  centuries. 
This  does  not  mean  that  the  students  of  Buddhism  have 
anywhere  near  such  reliable  data  for  the  life  of  Gautama 

13 


14  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 

and  early  Buddhism  as  Christian  students  have  for  the  life 
of  Jesus  Christ  and  early  Christianity,  but  that  some  of  the 
main  points  are  beginning  to  assume  a  fairly  definite  outline. 
This  outline,  especially  of  the  religion  of  the  Buddha,  be- 
comes all  the  more  definite  when  seen  in  the  light  of  its 
historical  environment.  In  fact,  our  whole  conception  of 
early  Buddhism  has  been  revolutionized  by  our  growing 
understanding  of  the  circumstances  under  which  it  arose. 
Let  us  state  briefly  the  main  features  of  the  times  that  pre- 
ceded Gautama's  day,  especially  of  the  religious  life  of  India. 

A.    Gaidamd's  Environment 

When  Buddhism  sprang  into  life  near  the  end  of  the  sixth 
century  B.C.,  India  had  already  passed  through  several  stages 
of  its  remarkable  religious  history.  The  Aryan  conquerors 
who  invaded  India  from  the  northwest  by  gradual  stages 
during  the  second  or  third  millennium  B.C.  had  already  pro- 
duced the  religion  of  the  Vedic  hymns.  In  fact,  the  Vedic 
hymns  and  the  religion  of  which  they  are  an  expression  al- 
ready lay  in  the  distant  past,  and  the  lofty  poetry  of  the 
Rig- Veda  had  been  forgotten  by  the  people  in  general  and 
was  known  only  by  the  priests.  Even  these  apparently 
knew  these  hymns  no  longer  in  their  purity  but  rather  as 
broken  up  into  charm-texts,  Mantras,  by  which  they  exer- 
cised authority  over  evil  spirits,  and  through  this  gained 
their  power  over  the  people.  That  is,  the  Vedic  hymns 
had  been  replaced  by  the  Brahmanas,  the  prose  liturgical 
texts  based  upon  them.  The  possessors  of  this  "divine 
knowledge"  naturally  were  looked  up  to  by  the  common 
people  and  this,  perhaps  more  than  any  other  factor,  gave 
them  the  supreme  place  in  India's  social  organization  and 
gradually  led  to  the  caste  system  which  has  been  such  a 
determining  element  in  every  phase  of  that  country's  life 
ever  since. 

The  Brahmanas,  which  are  primarily  nothing  more  than 
detailed  prescriptions  for  the  performance  of  religious  rites, 
had  in  turn  been  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  commentaries 
in  which  are  found  frequently  theological  and  philosophical 


GAUTAMA'S  ENVIRONMENT  15 

discussions  centering  largely  around  the  cosmogonic  problem. 
These  theological  and  philosophical  subjects  were  then 
further  elaborated  and  they  form  the  main  themes  of  the 
Aranyakas,  Forest  Books,  and  especially  the  older  Upani- 
shads,  which  form  appendices  to  the  Aranyakas. 

Such  is  the  brief  outline  of  the  chief  religious  literature 
which  had  been  produced  in  India  before  the  sixth  century 
B.C.,  and  a  mere  glance  at  it  is  enough  to  show  that  it  repre- 
sents many  centuries  of  religious  development.  All  this 
literature  is  regarded  by  Indian  orthodoxy  as  alike  divinely 
inspired,,  and  on  these  books,  especially  on  the  Upanishads, 
all  the  orthodox  systems  of  metaphysics  profess  to  base 
their  teachings. 

It  is  impossible  and  unnecessary  in  such  a  hurried  review 
to  indicate  the  contents  of  this  literature.  It  is  not  only 
very  varied,  but  the  views  on  the  same  subject  are  often 
quite  diverse,  as  might  be  expected  when  it  is  remembered 
that  these  books  record  in  part  at  least  the  religious  life  of 
a  mixed  race  covering  a  period  of  more  than  a  thousand 
years.  We  shall  give  a  summary  of  only  a  few  points  which 
have  special  bearing  on  our  main  theme.  These  are  the 
God-idea,  the  soul-theory  including  the  doctrines  of  trans- 
migration and  Karma,  salvation  and  the  religious  and  social 
structure  of  the  day. 

1.  The  God-idea. — The  God-idea  is  exceedingly  varied; 
not  only  so  when  the  literature  is  taken  as  a  whole,  but  also 
when  one  age  is  taken  by  itself.  Alongside  of  the  highest 
philosophical  speculations,  ending  sometimes  in  a  semi- 
monotheism  and  at  other  times  in  pantheism,  is  to  be  found 
the  lowest  form  of  animism  and  the  most  revolting  polytheism 
and  demonology.^  In  the  later  portions  of  the  Rig-Veda 
collection  there  are  passages  which  have  given  credence  to 
the  view  that  the  oldest  literature  of  India  points  to  mono- 
theism as  the  earliest  form  of  the  God-idea,  but  a  closer 
study  of  the  facts  will  hardly  bear  this  out.  There  is  an 
elementary  pantheism  to  be  found,  and  sometimes  this  leans 
toward  monotheism,  but,  after  all,  the  Vedic  gods  are  many ; 
and  as  the  centuries  passed  the  preeminence  of  one  gave  way 


16  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 

to  that  of  another.  "The  flowers  of  the  garlands  he  wore 
are  withered,  his  robes  of  majesty  have  waxed  old  and  faded, 
he  falls  from  his  high  estate,  and  is  reborn  into  a  new  life." 
When  we  come  to  the  century  in  which  Buddhism  arose, 
many  of  the  Vedic  gods,  even  those  who  at  one  time  or  an- 
other had  held  unique  places,  had  succumbed  to  this  fate. 
Only  a  few  of  them  remained,  and  new  gods  had  taken  the 
places  of  the  old  ones.  The  thing  that  impresses  one  is  that 
the  keenest  thinkers,  both  in  the  Vedic  age  and  the  centuries 
which  followed,  were  trying  in  one  way  or  another  to  work 
their  way  through  the  animistic  and  polytheistic  maze  which 
surrounded  them  to  the  conception  that  at  the  origin  of  all 
things  there  must  be  a  unitary  ground  of  existence.  This 
thought  in  some  writers  is  expressed  by  singling  out  one  god 
of  the  pantheon  and  ascribing  to  him  all  the  characteristics 
of  other  popular  gods  as  we  have,  e.g.,  later  in  the  cases  of 
Vishnu  and  Siva.  Other  writers  conceive  of  this  unitary 
ground  of  existence  in  terms  less  personal  and  regard  it 
rather  as  a  self-existent  principle  which  is  the  source  of  all 
phenomenal  existence,  the  gods  included.  Especially  when 
we  come  to  the  Upanishads  do  we  see  the  God-idea  assume 
this  monistic  form.  In  the  Upanishads  this  principle  is 
usually  called  Brahman.  Brahman  is  connected  by  some 
with  the  god  Brahma  or  with  Brahmanaspati  or  Brihaspati, 
i.e.  Brahman  manifests  itself  in  a  personal  god,  and  so  the 
conception  leans  toward  monotheism ;  but  other  thinkers 
use  Brahman  in  an  impersonal  sense,  i.e.  in  the  sense  of  a 
first  principle  which  is  the  source  of  all  empirical  reality. 
Thus  we  read,  "Brahma,  verily,  was  in  the  beginning  this 
world.  It  created  the  gods  and  assigned  them  the  rule  over 
these  worlds  —  Agni  over  this  earth,  Vayu  over  the  atmos- 
phere, Surya  over  the  heaven,  and  higher  gods  than  these 
over  the  higher  worlds."  These  worlds  and  gods,  the  writer 
says,  are  manifest,  but  Brahman  itself  has  "retired  to  the 
half  beyond."  That  is,  the  worlds  and  the  gods  that  rule 
over  them  belong  to  the  realm  of  empirical  reality,  whereas 
Brahman  belongs  to  the  invisible  world  of  the  Noumenon. 
This  self-existent  Brahman  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the 


GAUTAMA'S  ENVIRONMENT  17 

Atman,  the  Self.  That  is,  Brahman  is  conceived  of  in  terms 
of  the  human  self ;  not,  however,  in  the  ordinary  sense,  but 
rather  in  the  sense  of  the  ideal  self,  the  essential  self  after 
the  body  and  the  sense-world  has  been  subtracted.  The 
conception  is  something  like  Kant's  Noumenal  Ego  as  dis- 
tinguished from  his  Empirical  Ego,  though  what  the  nature 
of  such  an  ego  might  be  remains  rather  vague.  The  nou- 
menal ego  is  not  only  like  the  Atman  but  is  identical  with  it, 
as  the  pregnant  phrase,  "Tat  tvam  asi,"  "That  art  Thou," 
expresses  it.  The  Brahman-Atman,  then,  represents  the 
furthest  development  of  the  God-idea  which  Indian 
thought  had  reached  by  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  B.C. 
It  was  a  monistic  conception  which  had  monotheistic  affini- 
ties, but  on  the  whole  it  is  best  classified  under  the  convenient 
though  vague  term  Pantheism. 

The  spirit  of  this  pantheism  is  summed  up  most  pithily  in 
Chhandogya  Upanishad,  III,  sec.  14:  "Brahman  in  sooth 
is  this  All.  It  hath  therein  its  beginning,  end,  and  breath ; 
so  one  should  worship  it  in  stillness. 

"Now  man  in  sooth  is  made  of  will.  As  is  man's  will  in 
this  world,  so  doth  he  become  on  going  hence.  Will  shall 
he  frame. 

"Made  of  mind,  bodied  of  breath,  revealed  in  radiance, 
true  of  purpose,  ethereal  of  soul,  all-working,  all-loving,  all- 
smelling,  all-tasting,  grasping  this  All,  speaking  naught, 
heeding  naught,  this  very  Self  within  my  heart  is  tinier  than 
a  rice-corn  or  a  barley-corn  or  a  mustard-seed  or  a  canary- 
seed  or  the  pulp  of  a  canary-seed.  This  my  Self  within  my 
heart  is  greater  than  earth,  greater  than  sky,  greater  than 
heaven,  greater  than  these  worlds. 

"  All-w^orking,  all-loving,  all-smelling,  all-tasting,  grasping 
this  All,  speaking  naught,  heeding  naught,  this  my  Self 
within  my  heart,  this  is  Brahma,  to  Him  shall  I  win  on  going 
hence.     He  that  hath  this  thought  hath  indeed  no  doubt." 

To  sum  up,  then,  in  a  few  words  the  God-idea  current  in 
India  when  Buddhism  arose,  we  may  say  that  as  held  by 
the  common  people  it  was  either  animistic  or  polytheistic; 
both  terms  including  a  very  wide  range  of  beings.     In  the 


18  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE  BUDDHISM 

minds  of  the  keener  thinkers  it  is  quite  likely  that  the  God- 
idea  was  polytheistic  in  their  practical  life,  i.e.  the  gods  were 
regarded  as  having  real  existence  and  must  be  taken  into 
account;  but  in  their  speculative  moods  such  minds  pene- 
trated through  this  plurality  of  gods  to  the  conception  of  a 
unitary  source  of  all  existence,  the  gods  included.  This 
unitary  source  they  conceived  of  either  in  terms  of  their 
own  psychic  life,  or  as  an  unpicturable  First  Principle  which 
somehow  is  the  ground  of  all  that  the  empirical  world  re- 
veals to  us.  This  latter  conception,  however,  was  entirely 
too  abstract  to  satisfy  the  religious  sense.  While  the  mind 
demanded  a  unitary  source  of  all  existence,  the  heart  needed 
more  than  a  mere  First  Principle.  It  is  in  the  reconciliation 
of  these  two  demands  of  mind  and  heart  that  we  find  the 
origin  of  the  conception  of  a  supreme  personal  God  which 
we  find  in  the  great  currents  of  Sivaite  and  Vishnuite  thought 
which  have  divided  India  into  two  great  camps  from  Pre- 
Buddhistic  days  down  to  the  present  time.  The  latest  and 
most  lofty  expression  of  India's  approach  to  a  true  mono- 
theistic God-idea  is  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  men  like 
Rabindranath  Tagore ;  though,  of  course,  this  is  no  longer 
purely  Indian  but  borrows  much  from  western  science  and 
Christian  thought. 

2.  The  Soul-theory.  —  The  Soul-theory  current  in  India 
before  the  sixth  century  B.C.  was  equally  varied,  for  the  God- 
idea  and  the  Soul-theory  are  most  intimately  connected.  In 
fact,  nothing  seems  truer  than  the  statement  that  man  makes 
gods  in  his  own  image. 

Nothing  is  more  natural  to  primitive  man  than  the  belief 
in  his  own  soul.  He  not  only  believes  in  the  existence  of 
his  own  soul,  but  sees  a  soul  in  everything  else.  This  is  the 
real  heart  of  animism.  Polytheism,  too,  is  really  a  soul- 
theory.  The  great  objects  of  nature,  or  groups  of  phe- 
nomena, behave  as  they  do  because  they  have  souls  some- 
thing like  the  soul  that  controls  the  human  body.  And 
many  gods  are  nothing  but  deified  ancestors.  But  Indian 
thought  had  advanced  far  beyond  these  simple  assumptions 
by  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  B.C.     It  had  attempted  a 


GAUTAMA'S  ENVIRONMENT  19 

critical  analysis  of  what  constitutes  the  real  nature  of  the 
human  soul  and  speculated  as  to  its  destiny.  According  to 
one  of  the  oldest  Buddhist  texts  there  were  current  at  that 
time  no  less  than  thirty-six  different  soul-theories,  especially 
theories  as  to  the  state  of  the  soul  after  the  death  of  the 
body.  And  there  was  at  least  one  theory  which  held  that 
the  soul  dies  with  the  death  of  the  body.  The  majority  of 
these  theories,  especially  when  seen  in  the  light  of  early 
Buddhism  which  rejected  them,  impress  the  modern  student 
of  psychology  as  being  rather  materialistic.  The  soul  is 
usually  thought  of  as  some  refined  substance  which  inhabits 
the  body  and  at  death  leaves  it. 

In  the  Upanishads,  however,  we  find  a  conception  far  more 
advanced.  To  show  that  the  soul  is  not  a  material  substance 
we  are  told  that  it  is  smaller  than  a  mustard-seed  or  the 
pulp  of  a  canary-seed  and  yet  greater  than  earth,  sky  and 
all  the  worlds ;  in  fact,  it  is  of  the  same  essence  with  Brah- 
man and  even  identified  with  It  or  Him. 

In  short  Ave  may  say,  then,  that  at  the  end  of  the  sixth 
century  B.C.  India  believed  in  the  existence  of  the  soul  as  a 
reality  different  from  the  body  and  surviving  the  dissolution 
of  the  body  through  death. 

3.  Transmigration.  —  One  aspect  of  the  Soul-theory  Is 
the  doctrine  of  Transmigration.  This  doctrine  goes  at 
least  as  far  back  as  the  eighth  century  B.C.  In  the  minds  of 
the  uneducated  masses  this  belief  assumed  a  very  crude  form. 
All  objects  were  endowed  with  souls.  At  death  when  the 
soul  seemed  to  depart  from  the  body,  it  simply  changed  its 
abode  from  one  body  to  another.  The  nature  of  the  new 
abode,  it  was  believed,  was  somewhat  determined  by  the 
character  and  conduct  of  the  soul  during  its  occupancy  of 
the  body  which  it  was  leaving.  This  phase  of  the  doctrine 
is  the  heart  of  the  Karma  doctrine,  which  is  closelv  associated 
with  the  theory  of  Transmigration.  Of  this  we  shall  speak 
later,  as  it  is  one  of  the  foundation  stones  of  Buddhism.  We 
only  wish  to  add  here  that  the  doctrine  of  Karma,  like  that 
of  Transmigration,  had  been  the  common  possession  of  the 
people  of  India  for  several  centuries  before  Buddhism  arose. 


20  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

By  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  B.C.  it  had  already  been 
raised  into  an  ethical  conception  even  in  the  minds  of  the 
masses  and  explained  most  satisfactorily  to  them  both  the 
inequalities  of  man's  present  life  and  the  rewards  and  punish- 
ments meted  out  in  a  future  life. 

Now  just  as  the  Soul-theory  was  held  in  both  crude  and 
philosophic  forms,  so  the  doctrine  of  Transmigration  and 
its  associated  doctrine  of  Karma  were  also  held  in  higher 
forms  by  the  better  thinkers  before  the  days  of  Gautama. 
We  read,  e.g.,  in  the  Upanishads  that  "Man  in  sooth  is  made 
of  Will.  As  is  man's  will  in  this  world,  so  doth  he  become 
on  going  hence,"  That  is,  where  the  masses  held  the  doc- 
trines of  Transmigration  and  Karma  in  the  crude  form  that 
the  soul  at  death  simply  passes  over  into  another  body  already 
prepared  for  it  and  of  the  character  which  the  deeds  of  the 
soul  justly  deserve,  the  higher  form  held  that  the  soul  is 
essentially  Will,  and  by  its  own  deeds  creates  its  own  future 
environment.  In  short,  man  becomes  what  he  desires  and 
strives  to  be  —  a  doctrine  not  far  removed  from  some  of  our 
modern  biological  theories  regarding  the  origin  of  the  varied 
organisms  of  Life. 

The  destiny  of  the  soul  as  held  by  Pre-Buddhistic  thought 
is  already  exhibited  by  the  above  remarks  on  the  doctrines 
of  Transmigration  and  Karma.  We  only  add  that  India 
believed  in  a  happy  lot  for  the  good  and  in  hells  for  the  evil. 
Either  goal  is  reached  through  gradual  stages  by  the  law  of 
Karma  and  by  means  of  transmigrating  from  one  body  to 
another.  To  the  masses  heaven  was  a  life  of  endless  bliss 
conceived  of  in  terms  of  what  seemed  pleasant  in  this  life, 
while  hell  was  a  place  filled  with  all  the  horrors  that  a  fertile 
imagination  could  conjure  up.  To  the  philosopher,  and 
especially  to  the  philosophers  of  the  Upanishads,  the  life  of 
bliss  was  union  with  the  great  Source  of  All  Being,  the 
"identity  of  Brahman- Atman."  This  was  not  simply  to  be 
realized  after  death,  but  was  regarded  as  a  present  possibility. 
The  blessed  state  was  realized  the  moment  that  the  soul 
became  aware  of  the  great  fact  that  it  is  essentially  the  same 
as  the  Great  Atman.     Hell,  on  the  other  hand,  was  to  be  in 


GAUTAMA'S  ENVIRONMENT  21 

ignorance  of  this  great  truth.  It  was  real  separation  from 
the  Great-All  through  ignorance. 

To  sum  up,  then,  in  a  word  the  Pre-Buddhistic  theories 
regarding  the  soul  and  its  destiny  which  were  current  in 
India,  we  may  say  India  believed  that  the  soul  had  a  real 
existence,  that  it  wandered  from  body  to  body,  or  from  state 
to  state,  according  to  the  law  of  Karma  which  had  reached 
the  ethical  plane.  India  believed  that  the  final  destiny  of 
the  soul  was  on  the  one  hand  a  life  of  happiness  with  the 
gods  or  in  union  with  Brahman,  and  that  on  the  other  hand 
it  was  for  the  evil  a  life  of  unhappiness  in  lower  realms  of 
existence  and  in  hell,  or  a  life  of  separation  from  Brahman. 

4.  General  Social  and  Religious  Condition.  —  But  however 
much  Indian  thought  was  occupied  with  the  problems  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  soul  and  its  destiny,  and  however  much 
people  were  taught  that  at  the  end  of  the  long  road  which 
led  through  many  years  of  ascetic  practices  there  lay  the 
highest  heaven  in  which  one  can  escape  from  the  Wheel 
of  Life,  these  beliefs  were,  after  all,  rather  shadowy,  and  the 
average  Indian  preferred  to  cling  to  the  few  pleasures  of  the 
present  life  rather  than  count  upon  the  promised  greater 
happiness  of  an  uncertain  future.  "It  is  not  good  to  leave 
this  world,  for  who  knows  whether  one  shall  exist  in  yonder 
world  or  not."  And  Yajnavalkya,  the  real  founder  of 
Brahmanism,  says,  "Beyond  the  grave  there  is  no  con- 
sciousness." In  another  place  he  says,  "To  be  sure  a  tree 
cut  do-^Ti  sprouts  again  from  the  stump;  but  from  what 
roots  will  a  dead  man  grow  up  anew?  Do  not  say,  'from 
the  seed,'  for  seed  is  produced  only  by  the  living.  He  who 
has  died  shall  not  be  born  anew."  The  religious  life  of  the 
masses  in  India  before  Gautama's  day  dealt  largely  with 
present  material  blessings  or  curses  rather  than  with  moral 
achievements  that  were  to  determine  future  conditions.  So 
prayers  and  sacrifices  to  the  gods  centered  then,  as  they  do 
to-day,  around  the  things  that  will  feed  and  clothe  the  body, 
and  they  were  not  much  concerned  with  the  "garments  of 
righteousness  "  which  alone  can  make  men  fit  companions  of 
God.     The  average  man  lived  in  fear  of  demons  and  spiteful 


22  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

gods,  and  these  he  sought  to  propitiate  that  they  might  be- 
come friendly  to  him  and  give  him  what  he  needed  for  a 
present  Hfe  of  happiness  and  prosperity.  Even  the  Brahmin 
priests,  the  sole  possessors  of  the  "divine  knowledge,"  were 
apparently  more  concerned  with  keeping  the  people  in  terror 
of  their  power,  so  that  they  themselves  might  live  the  better 
by  their  trade,  than  with  saving  men's  lives  from  sin  and  lead- 
ing them  to  a  better  and  higher  life.  Yea,  these  guardians  of 
the  "divine  knowledge"  magnified  the  horrors  of  hell  that 
their  fees  for  their  work  of  deliverance  might  be  the  fatter. 

5.  Signs  of  a  Better  Day.  —  There  was,  however,  in  the 
sixth  century  B.C.  a  growing  class  of  men  and  women  who 
were  exceedingly  serious  and  sincere  in  their  religious  life. 
These  were  the  so-called  Wanderers  and  Hermits.  There 
may  have  been  some  impostors  among  them,  but  on  the  whole 
they  seem  to  have  been  held  in  high  regard  by  the  people 
because  of  their  holiness  and  wisdom.  The  Wanderers 
were  holy,  wise  men  wandering  up  and  down  India  talking 
informally  with  any  one  who  cared  for  religious  and  philo- 
sophical things.  They  came  largely  from  the  ranks  of  the 
people,  though  it  would  seem  that  there  were  also  some 
Brahmins  among  them.  Their  appearance  may  be  said  to 
have  heralded  and  helped  cause  the  change  that  was  about 
to  come  over  the  religious  life  of  India,  for  these  peripatetic 
philosophers  prepared  the  way  for  the  greatest  of  these 
wandering  teachers,  namely,  the  Buddha  Gautama.  The 
Hermits  who  lived  in  the  tangled  forests  and  barren  caves 
were  less  numerous  than  the  Wanderers,  but  still  in  their 
silent  haunts  of  self-mortification  and  meditation  they,  too, 
had  a  definite  share  in  bringing  in  the  religion  of  the  "World- 
Honored-One"  who  was  soon  to  appear. 

With  these  few  words  as  to  the  environment  in  which 
Buddhism  arose  we  pass  on  to  a  brief  sketch  of  Gautama's 
life  and  the  essentials  of  his  religious  views. 

B.    The  Buddha's  Life  and  Teachings 

The  Buddha  or  Siddhartha  —  to  call  him  by  his  personal 
name  —  w^as  born  at  Lumbini  near  Kapilavastu  about  560 


THE  BUDDHA'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  23 

B.C.  and  died  at  Kusinagara  about  480^  B.C.  His  father 
Suddhodana,  Pure  Rice,  was  not  a  king  as  is  often  said,  but 
probably  a  noble  landed  proprietor  of  the  Gautama  branch 
of  the  S'akya  clan.  Thus  the  Buddha  is  sometimes  called 
Gautama  and  sometimes  S'akyamuni,^  Teacher  of  the 
S'akyans.  The  S'akyan  clan  at  that  time  occupied  a  dis- 
trict a  few  thousand  square  miles  in  area  lying  partly  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Nepalese  foothills  and  partly  on  the  plains  to 
the  south.  The  capital  was  Kapilavastu,  situated  about  a 
hundred  miles  due  north  of  Benares.  The  clan  was  no  longer 
independent,  but  had  come  under  the  suzerainty  of  the  ad- 
joining kingdom  of  Kosala,  to  the  east  of  which  lay  the  rival 
kingdom  of  Magadha,  whose  ruler  Bimbisara  became  the 
Buddha's  first  royal  patron.  The  young  Siddhartha  lost 
his  mother  when  he  was  only  a  few  days  old  and  was  brought 
up  by  his  mother's  sister,  whom  his  father  married.  His 
bringing  up  was  probably  like  that  of  most  young  men  of 
his  class,  being  trained  more  in  manly  sports  and  the  arts 
of  the  chase  and  war  than  in  the  learning  of  the  priests  or 
the  wisdom  of  the  Wanderers  and  the  Hermits.  In  due 
time  he  was  married  and  became  the  father  of  one  son, 
Rahula,  who  became  in  the  course  of  time  a  member  of  the 
Buddhist  order. 

Soon  after  the  birth  of  his  son,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine, 
Siddhartha  abandoned  his  young  wife  and  child  and 
wandered  forth  "to  seek  after  what  was  right,"  like  hun- 
dreds of  others  were  doing  at  that  time.  Many  writers, 
ancient  and  modern,  have  given  us  beautiful  pictures  of 
the  "great  renunciation"  of  the  Buddha  and  his  struggle 
with  the  tempter  who  tried  to  make  him  give  up  his  quest ; 
but,  of  course,  such  pictures  should  not  be  taken  too  literally. 
Relying  upon  the  oldest  sources  available  it  would  seem, 
however,  that  the  cause  that  led  to  this  step  on  Siddhar- 
tha's  part  was  his  growing  realization  that  to  be  "carnally 
minded  is  death,"  and  that  the  pleasures  of  the  life  of  the 
senses  are  extremely  fleeting  and  can  never  satisfy  the  heart ; 
yea,  that  life  as  a  whole  seems  to  have  more  shadows  than 
sunlight. 


24  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Legend  gives  us  several  instances  in  which  this  truth 
was  brought  graphically  to  the  attention  of  the  young  man. 
Thus  one  day  while  attending  a  plowing  festival  he  saw 
an  earthworm  cut  in  two  by  the  plow.  Soon  after  this, 
while  passing  through  the  city  he  met  in  rapid  succession  a 
beggar,  an  old  man,  a  sick  man,  and  a  corpse  being  carried 
through  the  streets.  One  of  the  oldest  authoritative  texts 
puts  the  following  words  in  the  Buddha's  mouth,  "  An  or- 
dinary unscholared  man  though  himself  subject  to  old  age, 
not  escaped  beyond  its  power,  when  he  beholds  another 
man  old  is  hurt,  ashamed,  disgusted,  overlooking  the  while 
his  own  condition.  Thinking  that  that  would  be  unsuit- 
able to  me  the  infatuation  of  a  youth  and  his  youth  de- 
parted utterly  from  me."  That  is,  youth,  health  and  the 
pleasures  of  life  end  in  old  age,  sickness  and  sorrow;  and 
therefore  these  transitory  things  can  never  give  permanent 
satisfaction.  And  because  they  cannot  give  real  satis- 
faction it  is  better  to  abandon  them  lest  they  become  too 
deep-rooted.  Let  man  seek  "that  which  is  right,"  for  this 
alone  can  give  permanent  satisfaction. 

This,  in  short,  seems  to  have  been  the  thought  in  young 
Siddhartha's  mind  when  he  went  forth  from  his  home  and 
became  a  Wanderer  in  search  of  salvation.  At  first  he 
seems  to  have  attached  himself  to  two  teachers  skilled 
in  the  art  of  cultivating  trance  states;  but  finding  that 
this  led  to  nothing  permanent,  he  turned  to  a  life  of  self- 
mortification  in  which  he  showed  such  zeal  that  five  dis- 
ciples attached  themselves  to  him.  He  followed  this  path 
of  hardships  until  it  brought  him  to  the  very  verge  of  death, 
without,  however,  leading  him  to  what  he  really  sought. 
If  a  life  of  luxury  and  sensual  enjoyment  leads  to  pain  and 
death,  the  other  extreme  of  fasting  and  self-mortification 
also  seems  to  lead  nowhere  but  to  a  miserable  death.  Sid- 
dhartha  therefore  abandoned  the  life  of  the  ordinary  ascetic, 
realizing  that  physical  impoverishment  is  not  of  itself  spirit- 
ual enrichment.  His  five  companions  in  misery  forsook  him 
when  he  departed  from  what  they  regarded  as  the  only 
true  path  of  holiness.     Siddhartha,  however,  continued  his 


THE  BUDDHA'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  25 

quest  until  finally,  after  six  or  seven  years  from  the  time 
he  first  went  forth,  the  hour  of  his  Enlightenment  dawned 
upon  him  and  he  understood  for  the  first  time  the  cause  of 
the  world's  miseries  and  saw  the  way  of  escape  from  earth's 
sorrows.  He  had  attained  Buddhahood  and  was  now  pre- 
pared to  become  the  teacher  of  the  Way  which  was  to  bring 
salvation  to  Asia's  millions. 

What  is  it  that  Siddhartha,  or  rather  the  Buddha,  the 
Enlightened  One,  saw  in  that  hour  of  enlightenment?  for 
to  know  this  is  to  know  the  heart  of  his  religion.  And  to 
know  the  heart  of  early  Buddhism  is  to  have  a  norm  by 
which  to  judge  the  development  of  early  Buddhism  into 
Mahayana  Buddhism  and  the  evolution  of  this  into  the 
Buddhism  of  Japan,  which  is  the  furthest  development  of 
Mahayana  Buddhism  and  constitutes  the  real  subject  of 
this  book. 

It  may  be  difficult  to  answer  this  question  accurately,  but 
the  general  outline,  after  all,  seems  fairly  clear.  It  is  most 
succinctly  stated  in  what  is  called  the  Three  Conceptions 
(Trividya)  or  the  Three  Law  Seals,  the  Four  Noble  Truths 
and  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path.  These  are  not  three  en- 
tirely different  things,  but  they  more  or  less  overlap.  The 
Three  Conceptions,  or  Law  Seals,  may  be  said  to  represent 
the  general  philosophical  presuppositions  of  Gautama's  re- 
ligion ;  whereas  the  Four  Noble  Truths  and  the  Noble 
Eightfold  Path  represent  his  specific  insight  into  man's  needs 
and  the  way  of  salvation. 

1.  The  Three  Conceptions. — The  Three  Conceptions,  or 
the  general  philosophical  presuppositions  underlying  the 
Buddha's  religion,  may  be  summarized  under  the  following 
three  heads :  ^ 

The  Impermanence  of  All  Individual  Existence. 

The  Universality  of  Suffering  Inherent  in  Individuality. 

The  Non-reality  of  an  Ego-principle. 

a.  The  Impermanence  of  All  Indmidual  Existence.  —  We 
saw  above  that  Brahmin  speculation  had  advanced  to  the 
point  where  it  asserted  the  existence  of  an  unitary  ground 
of  all  beings  in  the  One-All,  the  Brahman.    This  conclusion 


26  STUDIES  IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

was  a  result  of  speculation  based  upon  observation,  namely, 
the  general  observation  that  no  individual  existence  as  such 
is  ever  permanent  but  is  subject  to  change.  If  there  is  per- 
manency in  anything  it  must  be  in  that  which  somehow 
underlies  the  world  of  change,  i.e.  in  the  Brahman.  Now 
while  Gautama  had  little  or  nothing  to  say  about  the  One- 
All,  nor  even  that  it  was  without  change,  he  did  share  with 
the  philosophers  of  his  day  the  view  that  all  individual  ex- 
istence, all  the  world  of  phenomena,  was  subject  to  change, 
and  that  the  one  word  Impermanence  best  describes  the 
world  as  we  know  it.  This  is  true  especially  of  all  living 
things.  The  insect  lives  but  for  a  few  days,  the  span  of 
life  of  the  average  animal  is  only  a  few  years,  the  plant  world 
is  green  to-day  and  withered  to-morrow,  and  while  trees  may 
endure  for  decades  and  even  centuries,  it  is  still  true  that  all 
of  them  are  undergoing  changes  from  day  to  day.  The  in- 
animate world  seems  more  permanent,  but  it,  too,  is  in  a 
constant  flux.  Rivers  change  their  courses,  they  overflow 
in  flood  time  and  dry  up  in  droughts.  Rocks  crumble  to 
pieces  and  are  worn  away  by  time.  Even  the  eternal  hills 
are  made  low  by  the  passing  of  the  centuries.  And  what  is 
true  of  nature  in  general  is  especially  true  of  human  life.  The 
new-born  babe  soon  becomes  the  active  lad,  and  a  few  years 
see  him  grow  into  the  young  man  of  twenty  or  thirty.  Only 
a  few  more  years  and  the  prime  of  life  is  reached  and  passed, 
and  then  comes  the  inevitable  old  age  and  decay  ending  in 
death.  Beggar  and  prince  alike  share  this  fate;  yea,  the 
greater  the  glory  the  more  speedy  seems  its  end. 

"  The  boast  of  heraldry,  the  pomp  of  power, 
And  all  that  beauty,  all  that  wealth  e're  gave, 
Await  alike  the  inevitable  hour. 
The  path  of  glory  leads  but  to  the  grave." 

Change  and  decay  is  not  alone  the  fate  of  man  and  his  im- 
mediate environment,  but  this  seems  to  be  the  lot  of  the 
universe  as  a  whole.  Suns,  moons,  and  stars,  of  all  it  may 
be  said  "Our  little  systems  have  their  day,  they  have  their 
day  and  cease  to  be."    Worlds  are  formed  and  dissolved, 


THE  BUDDHA'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  27 

and  periods  of  organization  and  life  are  succeeded  by  periods 
of  chaos  and  death.  Not  even  the  gods  that  inhabited  the 
higher  reahns  did  Gautama  exempt  from  the  law  of  change. 
They,  too,  are  bound  to  the  great  Wheel  of  Life,  and  its 
eternal  revolutions  will  some  day  bring  their  happy  lot  to  an 
end.  Nothing,  absolutely  nothing  in  the  realm  of  individual 
existence  is  exempt.  The  one  word  Impermanence  must  be 
written  across  them  all. 

6.  The  Universality  of  Suffering  Inherent  in  Individuality.  — 
The  second  great  underlying  thought  of  all  the  Buddha's 
teachings  and  the  one  of  which  the  Four  Great  Truths  are 
really  a  fuller  exposition  is  the  thought  that  all  individual 
existence  is  inherently  an  existence  of  suffering.  In  fact,  the 
very  condition  of  individuality,  i.e.  the  effort  to  remain  an 
individual  means  suffering.  There  is  an  elemental  force  at 
work  which  ultimately  destroys  every  individual,  as  is  an- 
nounced in  the  doctrine  of  Impermanence,  and  therefore  any 
effort  on  the  part  of  an  individual  to  oppose  this  elemental 
force  must  result  in  pain.  Individuality  implies  limitation, 
limitation  leads  to  ignorance,  ignorance  leads  to  sorrow  and 
suffering.  This  is  especially  true  of  man.  Being  an  in- 
dividual, his  first  instinct  is  self-preservation.  Self-preserva- 
tion leads  him  to  make  an  effort  against  the  forces  that 
oppose  him,  and  so  the  fight  that  never  can  win  has  begun ; 
for  even  though  man  gains  what  he  seeks,  his  desires  far 
outrun  his  achievements,  and  even  his  achievements  soon 
crumble  to  dust  and  compel  him  to  be  separated  from  all 
that  he  has  won  or  sought  to  win.  This  second  truth,  the 
Buddha's  contemporaries,  too,  recognized  in  a  measure,  but 
they  held  it  in  no  such  absolute  form,  for  the  Brahmin  phi- 
losopher held  that  as  the  individual  is  really  identical  with 
the  Brahman,  the  One-All,  absolute  loss  is  impossible.  And 
the  common  people  of  India  believed  that  though  this  is  a 
life  of  suffering  and  sorrow,  and  death  robs  man  of  all  his 
worldly  possession,  there  is  nevertheless  the  future  life  of 
happiness  as  a  compensation. 

c.  The  Non-reality  of  an  Ego-principle.  —  The  third  great 
underlying  thought  of  Gautama's  religion  is  the  denial  of 


28  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

an  ego-principle,  or  the  self.  Individuals  are  real,  of  course, 
in  a  relative  sense ;  but  since  all  things  are  impermanent, 
the  self  (at  least  the  empirical  self),  too,  must  be  imper- 
manent. The  effort  of  man  to  make  provision  for  his  soul 
in  a  future  life  is  of  all  efforts  the  most  vain.  It  is  as  if  a 
rain-drop  sought  to  retain  within  itself  the  rainbow  colors 
caused  by  the  rays  of  the  sun  falling  on  it  for  a  moment  or 
two.  The  rain-drop  inevitably  falls  to  the  ground  and  then, 
united  with  others,  it  flows  down  the  stream  into  the  ocean, 
there  to  be  lost  in  the  eternal  depths  of  Oneness ;  and  what 
has  become  of  the  drop  as  a  drop  or  the  rainbow  colors  it 
hoped  to  treasure  up  for  all  eternity?  That  Gautama  did 
not  deny  a  certain  sort  of  continuity  beyond  death  is  seen 
from  the  doctrine  of  Karma  which  he  accepted,  but  of  this 
we  shall  speak  later. 

These  three  doctrines,  then,  namely,  the  doctrine  of  the 
impermanency  of  all  individual  existence,  the  doctrine  of 
suffering  inherent  in  individuality,  and  the  non-reality  of 
any  abiding  ego-principle,  or  the  self,  constitute  the  underlying 
presuppositions  of  all  of  the  Buddha's  teachings.  And  we 
may  say  that  these  are  not  denied  by  the  Buddhists  of  any 
school,  though,  as  we  shall  see  in  succeeding  chapters,  many 
of  the  sects  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  Buddhism  proclaim 
teachings  that  seem  practically  the  opposites  of  these. 

2.  The  Four  Noble  Truths,^  and  the  Nohle  Eightfold 
Path.^  —  We  come  now  to  the  Four  Noble  or  Great  Truths 
and  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path  which  we  said  constitute  the 
Buddha's  more  specific  insight  into  man's  real  condition 
and  the  way  of  salvation  from  this  condition.  We  have  a 
comparatively  short  statement  of  this  core  of  the  Buddha's 
religion  in  the  sermon  of  Benares,  entitled  "The  Foundation 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Righteousness." 

"There  are  two  extremes  which  he  who  has  gone  forth 
ought  not  to  follow  —  habitual  devotion  on  the  one  hand  to 
the  passions,  to  the  pleasures  of  sensual  things,  a  low  pagan 
way  (of  seeking  satisfaction),  ignoble,  unprofitable,  fit  only 
for  the  worldly-minded  ;  and  habitual  devotion,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  self-mortification,  which  is  painful,  ignoble,  un- 


THE  BUDDHA'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  29 

projBtable.  There  is  a  Middle  Path  discovered  by  the  Ta- 
thagata  ^  —  a  path  which  opens  the  eyes,  and  bestows  under- 
standing, which  leads  to  peace,  to  insight,  to  the  higher 
Wisdom,  to  Nirvana.  Verily !  it  is  the  Aryan  Eightfold 
Path ;  that  is  to  say,  Right  Views,  Right  Aspirations,  Right 
Speech,  Right  Conduct,  Right  Mode  of  Livelihood,  Right 
Effort,  Right  Mindfulness,  and  Right  Rapture." 

"a.  Now  this  is  the  Noble  Truth  as  to  suffering.  Birth 
is  attended  with  pain,  decay  is  painful,  disease  is  painful, 
death  is  painful.  Union  with  the  unpleasant  is  painful, 
painful  is  separation  from  the  pleasant ;  and  any  craving 
unsatisfied,  that,  too,  is  painful.  In  brief,  the  five  aggre- 
gates of  clinging  (that  is,  the  conditions  of  individuality) 
are  painful. 

"  h.  Now  this  is  the  Noble  Truth  as  to  the  origin  of  suffer- 
ing. Verily  !  it  is  the  craving  thirst  that  causes  the  renewal 
of  becomings,  that  is  accompanied  by  sensual  delights,  and 
seeks  satisfaction,  now  here  now  there  —  that  is  to  say,  the 
craving  for  the  gratification  of  the  senses,  or  the  craving  for 
a  future  life,  or  the  craving  for  prosperity. 

"c.  Now  this  is  the  Noble  Truth  as  to  the  passing 
away  of  pain.  Verily !  it  is  the  passing  away  so  that 
no  passion  remains,  the  giving  up,  the  getting  rid  of, 
the  emancipation  from,  the  harboring  no  longer  of  this 
craving  thirst. 

"d.  Now  this  is  the  Noble  Truth  as  to  the  way  that  leads 
to  the  passing  away  of  pain.  Verily  !  it  is  this  Aryan  Eight- 
fold Path,  that  is  to  say.  Right  Views,  Right  Aspirations, 
Right  Speech,  Conduct  and  Mode  of  Livelihood,  Right 
Effort,  Right  Mindfulness,  and  Right  Rapture." 

An  explanation  of  the  fuller  meaning  of  this  Aryan  (Noble) 
Eightfold  Path  may  be  seen  in  the  following  as  given  by  Rhys- 
Davids  in  his  "Buddhism." 

"Right  Views  (free  from  superstitions  or  delusions). 

"Right  Aspirations  (high  and  worthy  of  the  intelligent, 
worthy  man). 

"Right  Speech  (kindly,  open,  truthful). 

"Right  Conduct  (peaceful,  honest,  pure). 


30  STUDIES  IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

"Right  Livelihood  (bringing  hurt  or  danger  to  no  living 
thing) . 

"  Right  Effort  (in  self-training  and  in  self-culture) . 

"  Right  Mindfulness  (the  active,  watchful  mind) . 

"Right  Rapture  (in  deep  meditation  on  the  realities  of 
life)." 

Now  there  is  a  ring  of  sincerity  and  practicality  about 
these  words  of  the  Buddha  which  one  misses  in  the  specula- 
tive systems  of  many  religious  teachers.  The  Buddha  speaks 
from  experience,  and  while  we  may  not  agree  with  his  inter- 
pretation of  life  and  his  way  of  salvation,  we  cannot  help 
but  feel  that  he  w^as  dead  in  earnest  in  his  quest  and  honest 
in  his  solution  of  Life's  problem  which  he  offered  to  the 
people  of  India.  The  two  extremes  wliich  man  is  to  avoid, 
he  knew  from  his  own  bitter  experience.  They  are  extremes 
into  which  not  only  the  people  of  ancient  India  had  fallen, 
but  they  are  present  with  us  to  this  day.  Life,  indeed,  is 
an  art ;  and,  after  all,  very  few  can  strike  the  happy  balance 
between  using  the  things  of  sense  without  abusing  them, 
the  happy  balance  of  living  in  the  world  without  sinking  to 
the  level  of  the  world.  This  discovery  of  the  Buddha  is  a 
commonplace  truth  to  us  moderns,  though  the  actual  walk- 
ing in  the  IMiddle  Path  of  sane  moderation  seems  almost  as 
difficult  to-day  as  it  did  to  the  ancients. 

When  we  come  to  the  specific  content  of  The  Four  Noble 
Truths  proclaimed  by  the  Buddha,  the  Western  mind  and 
heart  parts  company  with  him,  though  much  that  is  implied 
in  these  Truths,  few  would  hesitate  to  accept.  That  life 
has  much  in  it  of  sorrow  and  suffering,  every  man  who  knows 
life  at  all  must  have  experienced,  but  it  is  not  all  that  can 
be  said  about  life.  Though  not  blind  to  pain  and  evil,  the 
Western  mind  has  ever  held  to  a  divine  optimism  which  re- 
fuses to  give  a  whole-hearted  allegiance  to  the  statement  of 
the  first  Noble  Truth  that  life  is  essentially  sorrow  and  pain. 
And  the  deep-rooted  belief  in  the  goodness  of  a  Personal 
God  known  through  Christ  as  the  Heavenly  Father,  will 
always  make  the  Buddha's  solution  of  life's  problems  seem 
quite  inadequate  and  too  gloomy.    Even  in  non-christian 


THE  BUDDHA'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  31 

circles  there  is  in  the  West  a  sort  of  belief  that  life  is  good. 
If  we  are  beaten  in  the  struggle  and  "  the  cards  seem  stacked," 
we  at  least  enjoy  the  game  of  life  and  want  to  play  it  to  the 
end. 

Gautama  began  his  quest  as  many  others  had  begun  before 
him.  Like  others  he  had  found  that  life  as  lived  by  the 
ordinary  man,  namely,  the  life  of  the  senses  and  physical 
enjoyment,  was  fleeting  and  ended  in  old  age,  sickness  and 
death.  If  there  are  pleasures,  they  are  impermanent  and 
seem  to  be  overbalanced  by  sorrow  and  suffering.  Thus  he 
was  brought  to  formulate  his  first  Noble  Truth,  that  human 
life  is  suffering  and  vanity.  This,  as  we  have  said  above,  is 
not  exactly  a  new  truth  with  Gautama,  but  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  perhaps  no  one  had  ever  held  it  w  ith  quite  such 
universal  application,  seeing  that  he  applied  it  to  all  individ- 
ual existence,  the  gods  of  the  highest  heavens  included. 

Now  in  the  second  of  the  Noble  Truths,  we  have  what 
seems  to  have  been  an  original  ^  conception  with  the  Buddha, 
namely,  his  explanation  of  the  cause  of  human  suffering. 
The  seat  of  all  suffering,  he  said,  is  to  be  found  in  man's 
desires,  especially  in  that  craving  thirst  which  seeks  satis- 
faction through  the  gratification  of  the  senses.  That  is,  man 
as  he  is  constituted  in  his  ignorance  has  a  thirst  for  things 
which  really  do  not  satisfy.  This  thirst  keeps  him  ever  seek- 
ing satisfaction  without  finding  it.  Some  seek  happiness  in 
a  life  of  luxury,  others  seek  it  in  what  seem  nobler  ways  ;  and 
still  others,  foregoing  all  earthly  pleasures,  seek  happiness 
in  a  life  of  bliss  with  the  gods  in  the  world  to  come.  But 
all  such  seeking  can  never  satisfy  nor  lead  to  anything  per- 
manent, for  the  simple  reason  that  it  is  all  a  sort  of  self- 
seeking,  i.e.  it  is  based  on  the  belief  that  the  self  is  a  per- 
manent reality,  which,  according  to  the  Buddha,  is  the 
greatest  of  all  follies,  seeing  that  no  individual  existence  is 
permanent  as  such,  but  is  subject  to  the  great  law  of  change. 

In  the  third  Noble  Truth  the  Buddha  announced  his 
gospel,  namely,  that  there  is  a  way  of  escape  from  this  life 
of  suffering.  The  way  of  self-seeking,  in  whatever  form  it 
may  be  held,  leads  only  to  a  fool's  paradise.    Especially 


32  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

is  trust  in  the  popular  gods  of  Brahmanism  a  vain  thing, 
for  how  can  theyisave  man  when  they,  too,  belong  to  this 
world  of  change  and  are  bound  to  the  Wheel  of  Life  ?  But 
there  is  a  way  of  salvation  discovered  by  the  Enlightened 
One.  This  way  is  declared  in  what  constitutes  the  fourth 
Noble  Truth.  It  is  none  other  than  the  Noble  Eightfold 
Path  which  leads  man  finally  into  true  salvation,  into  an 
enlightenment  in  which  he  sees  things  as  they  are. 

And  when  man  is  enlightened  and  sees  things  as  they  really 
are,  what  does  he  see?  He  sees  that  all  things  are  imper- 
manent and  that  all  individual  existence  is  inherently  an 
existence  of  suffering,  that  in  order  to  escape  from  this  life 
of  suffering  the  truly  wise  must  give  up  all  desires  for  in- 
dividuality and  the  things  that  go  to  make  up  such  a  life. 
That  is,  the  Enlightened  One  sees  that  what  we  ordinarily 
call  the  self  is  the  greatest  of  all  illusions,  and  hence  to  know 
this  is  to  get  free  from  the  bondages  of  individual  existence. 
Freedom  from  the  bondages  of  individuality  is  what  con- 
stitutes real  salvation. 

Now  this  denial  of  the  reality  of  the  self  seems  very  strange, 
at  least  to  the  average  Western  mind  ;  for  at  once  the  thought 
suggests  itself  that  if  the  belief  in  the  reality  of  the  self  is 
an  illusion,  it  must  be  an  illusion  to  something,  or  some  one ; 
and  what  is  that  "something,  or  some  one"?  And  still 
further,  if  the  Enlightened  One  knows  that  the  belief  in  the 
existence  of  the  ego  is  an  illusion,  then  what,  or  who,  is  it 
that  knows  this? 

Such  questions  make  it  clear  that  the  Buddha  either  did 
not  think  the  problem  through,  or  that,  after  all,  he  must 
have  believed  in  the  existence  of  a  "something"  that  knows. 
We  are  rather  inclined  to  believe  that  both  these  alternates 
are  true,  i.e.  the  Buddha  neither  thought  his  position  clear 
through  nor  did  he  deny  absolutely  that  there  was  a  "  some- 
thing" that  knew,  which  we  have  a  perfect  right  to  call 
the  true  or  higher  self.^ 

The  Buddha  himself  apparently  admitted  that  he  did  not 
think  his  position  clear  through,  for  it  seems  more  and  more 
evident  that  he  had  no  special  fondness  for  metaphysical 


THE  BUDDHA'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  33 

problems,  and  that  he  rather  side-stepped  them  when  he 
could.  What  he  was  primarily  interested  in  was  the  de- 
liverance of  suffering  humanity  from  the  bondages  of  sin 
and  passion.  Where  others  were  theorizing  about  the  cos- 
mogonic  problem,  the  nature  of  the  soul  and  its  relation  to 
the  Brahman,  he  was  preaching  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path  of 
practical  ethical  conduct  which  was  to  free  man  from  suffer- 
ing. What  lay  at  the  end  of  the  road  of  redemption  from 
suffering,  he  was  not  so  much  concerned  with;  in  fact,  he 
felt  that  speculations  on  this  subject  only  kept  men  from 
obtaining  deliverance.  Thus  we  read  in  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  authentic  passages  on  the  subject  as  follows : 

"Unwisely  does  one  consider,  'Have  I  existed  in  ages 
past,  .  .  .  shall  I  exist  in  ages  to  be,  do  I  exist  at  all,  am  I, 
how  am  I  ?  This  is  a  bein^,  whence  is  it  come,  whither  will 
it  go?'  Considerations  such  as  these  is  walking  in  the 
jungle  of  delusions.  These  are  the  things  one  should  con- 
sider :  '  This  is  suffering,  this  is  the  origin  of  suffering,  this 
is  the  cessation  of  suffering,  this  is  the  way  that  leads  to  the 
cessation  of  suffering.'  From  him  that  considers  thus  his 
fetters  fall  away." 

One  thing  only  the  Buddha  was  certain  lay  at  the  end 
of  the  road  of  suffering,  and  that  was  freedom  and  perfect 
peace.  Whether  it  was  the  freedom  and  peace  of  anni- 
hilation or  whether  it  was  the  freedom  and  peace  of  a  pos- 
itive existence,  he  did  not  state  clearly.  In  fact,  his  answer 
to  such  questions  usually  was  a  list  of  the  Great  Indeter- 
minates,  chief  of  which  are  the  following : 

(1  and  2).  Whether  the  world  in  its  real  substance  is 
eternal  or  not. 

(3  and  4) .   Whether  the  world  is  infinite  or  not. 

(5  and  6).  Whether  the  soul  is  the  same  as  the  body  or 
different  from  it. 

(7  and  8) .  Whether  a  man  exists  in  any  way  or  not  after 
death. 

"  The  jungle,  the  desert,  the  puppet-show,  the  writhing,  the 
entanglements  of  such  speculations  is  accompanied  by  sorrow, 
wrangling  resentment,  the  fever  of  excitement.     It  conduces 


34  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

neither  to  detachment  of  heart  nor  to  freedom  from  lusts, 
nor  to  tranquiUity,  nor  to  peace,  nor  to  wisdom,  nor  to  the 
insight  of  the  higher  stages  of  the  path,  nor  to  Nirvana." 

Thus  while  it  is  true  in  general  that  the  Buddha  seemed  to 
base  his  teachings  on  certain  philosophical  presuppositions, 
the  chief  of  which  we  have  given  above,  it  seems  equally 
true  that  he  had  not  thought  himself  through  to  a  clear  posi- 
tion on  even  those  points  which  his  main  teachings,  seem  to 
imply ;  or  if  he  did  think  himself  through,  he  did  not  follow 
up  his  conclusions  very  consistently  or  positively. 

3.  Karma  ^°  and  Self.  —  Now  while  the  Buddha  was  not 
positive  as  to  the  continuation  of  the  Enlightened  One  (the 
Arhat)  beyond  this  life,  and  while  he  apparently  denied  the 
reality  of  the  self  and  placed  such  problems  among  the  Great 
Indeterminates,  he  nevertheless  did  assert  positively  that 
for  the  unenlightened  man  there  was  a  "something"  which 
continued  beyond  death.  This  "something"  was  a  man's 
Karma.  In  fact,  his  very  plan  of  salvation  was  primarily 
a  way  by  which  Karma  should  be  destroyed,  or  exhausted, 
so  that  it  would  not  again  build  up  an  individual  being  and 
cause  suffering. 

But  what  is  meant  by  Karma  and  how  does  it  differ  from 
the  self  ?  This  is  a  question  to  which  no  really  satisfactory 
answer  can  be  given,  and  illustrates  what  we  said  above, 
namely,  that  the  Buddha  did  not  think  his  position  clear 
through,  or  at  least  that  he  did  not  explain  just  what 
it  was. 

The  doctrine  of  Karma,  as  we  said  above,  is  one  that  was 
common  to  India  long  before  the  days  of  the  Buddha.  It 
was  closely  associated  with  that  other  great  doctrine  of 
Indian  thought,  the  doctrine  of  the  Transmigration  of  the 
soul.  Gautama  apparently  denied  the  latter  but  not  the 
former.  He  held  to  a  transmigration  from  one  existence  to 
another  so  that  a  man's  present  misfortunes  may  be  the 
effect  of  the  sins  committed  in  a  former  existence,  but  the 
identity  of  the  present  man  with  the  man  of  the  former 
existence  was  not  a  personal  identity,  but  only  a  Karma 
identity.    That  is,  the  soul,  or  the  self,  does  not  pass  from 


THE  BUDDHA'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  35 

one  body  to  another,  as  was  held  by  most  of  the  thinkers 
of  Gautama's  day,  but  only  Karma  passed  over.  There  is 
no  memory  or  consciousness  of  a  self ;  there  is  only  Karma 
that  endures.  Therefore  if  one  is  to  understand  the  Buddha's 
position  one  must  understand  the  meaning  of  the  baffling 
conception  expressed  by  the  word  Karma. 

The  word  Karma  expresses  in  general  the  doctrine  of  the 
universal  reign  of  the  law  of  Cause  and  Effect.  Of  all 
doctrines  none  is  more  axiomatic  than  this  causal-nexus 
axiom,  and  so  the  Buddha,  like  every  true  Indian  of  his 
day,  accepted  it  with  all  its  accustomed  rigor.  Though  he 
refused  to  go  back  step  by  step  through  the  causal-nexus 
to  the  First  Great  Cause,  he  nevertheless  held  with  others 
that  everything  that  exists  has  a  cause,  and  every  effect  in 
turn  becomes  the  cause  of  future  effects.  That  is  the  mean- 
ing of  the  most  famous  of  all  Buddhist  stanzas  which  one 
finds  engraved  on  thousands  of  votive  gifts  to  Buddhist 
shrines  in  India,  and  which  reads :  / 

"  Of  all  the  phenomena  sprung  from  a  cause 
The  Buddha  the  cause  hath  told, 
And  he  tells,  too,  how  each  shall  come  to  its  end, 
Such  alone  is  the  word  of  the  Sage." 

Now  this  causal-nexus  axiom  when  applied  to  the  human 
individual  means  nothing  else  than  that  a  man  is  at  any 
one  moment  just  what  his  deeds  and  desires  of  the  past 
have  made  him;  and  in  the  future  he  will  become  just 
what  his  deeds  and  desires  of  the  past  and  the  present 
are  making  him.  The  words  of  the  poet  have  for  the  Bud- 
dhist a  literal  meaning  when  he  says : 

"  Our  deeds  follow  us  from  afar, 
And  what  we  have  been  makes  us  what  we  are." 

Good  deeds  will  produce  a  good  result ;  and  evil  deeds,  an 
evil  result ;  or  to  use  the  Indian  mode  of  thought,  a  man's 
good  Karma  will  tend  to  make  a  good  individual,  and  his 
evil  Karma  will  tend  to  make  an  evil  individual.  The 
resultant  is  the  combination  of  the  two.     Now  at  death  the 


36  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

individual  falls  apart  into  the  component  elements  of  in- 
dividuality, namely,  the  five  Aggregates,^^  Skandhas  (bodi- 
liness,  sensation,  perception,  predisposition  and  conscious- 
ness), but  the  Karma,  or  the  Tendency-energy,  of  the  present 
life  remains ;  and  in  the  future  it  will  collect  other  Skandhas 
which  will  function  as  an  individual  in  harmony  with  the 
Karma,  or  Tendency-energy,  which  creates  them.  There  is, 
then,  no  memory  or  consciousness  which  passes  over  from 
one  birth  to  another,  but  there  is  this  mysterious  energy 
which  is  other  than  the  body  and  the  functioning  of  the 
empirical  ego  that  does  pass  over  from  one  individual  to 
another,  or  rather,  that  builds  up  a  new  individual  again 
when  the  old  individual  is  dissolved  in  death. 

From  this  it  seems  clear  that  the  Buddha  did  not  beheve 
in  the  existence  of  the  soul  in  the  sense  in  which  the  ordinary 
philosophers  of  his  day  believed  it.  And  further  it  seems 
clear  that  he  did  not  believe  in  the  existence  of  the  spiritual 
self  in  the  sense  in  which  we  moderns  believe  when  we  hold 
in  our  doctrine  of  personal  immortality  that  beyond  death 
there  is  a  continuation  of  memory  and  a  consciousness  of 
real  identity.  That  mysterious  Tendency-energy  known  as 
Karma  is,  then,  neither  the  mere  energy  resulting  from  the 
physical  forces  that  make  up  the  human  body;  nor  is  it, 
in  the  second  place,  simply  the  sum  total  of  the  functioning 
of  the  five  Skandhas,  seeing  that  it  is  the  energy  which  collects 
the  new  Skandhas  of  the  new  individual  in  each  successive 
stage  of  incarnation.  And  in  the  third  place,  it  cannot 
be  said  to  be  like  the  spiritual  self  of  the  modern  psychologist, 
but  rather  does  it  seem  to  be  like  that  mysterious  energy 
which  we  know  in  us  as  Will,  especially  like  the  Blind  Will, 
or  the  Will-to-be  of  Schopenhauer's  ^^  system.  It  is  this 
"blind  will-to-be"  which  is  the  real  cause  of  all  becoming, 
and  as  long  as  it  persists  it  will  continue  to  create  for  itself 
new  bodies  and  individuals  after  the  old  are  dissolved  through 
death.  The  empirical  individual,  which  is  but  a  composite 
of  the  five  Skandhas  and  the  seat  of  all  sorrow  and  pain, 
ceases  to  exist  when  this  combination  is  dissolved  at  death, 
but  Karma,  or  that  Will-energy,  continues  and  creates  the 


THE  BUDDHA'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  37 

conditions  of  a  new  empirical  individuality  and  so  continues 
the  life  of  suffering. 

Nearer  than  this  we  cannot  define  what  is  meant  by  this 
baffling  conception  of  Karma  and  rebirths,  and  by  the 
Buddha's  conception  of  the  empirical  ego, 

4.  The  Buddha's  Mode  of  Salvation.  —  Whatever,  then, 
Karma  may  mean  or  may  not  mean,  the  aim  and  purpose 
of  the  Buddha's  way  of  salvation  is  to  break  the  Karma- 
chain  so  that  it  will  not  continue  and  form  another  individual 
and  so  prolong  the  life  of  suffering.  The  true  Arhat  is  one 
whose  Karma  has  been  completely  exhausted  and  so  is 
assured  of  deliverance  from  the  Wheel  of  Life.  "Looking 
for  the  maker  (Karma)  of  this  tabernacle  I  shall  have  to 
run  through  a  course  of  many  births,  so  long  as  I  do  not 
find ;  and  painful  is  birth  again  and  again.  But  now,  maker 
of  the  tabernacle,  thou  hast  been  seen ;  thou  shalt  not  make 
up  this  tabernacle  again.  All  thy  rafters  are  broken,  thy 
ridgepole  is  sundered,  thy  mind  approaching  Nirvana  has 
attained  to  extinction  of  all  desires."  This  is  one  of  the 
best  authenticated  passages  of  early  Buddhism  and  seems 
to  bear  out  what  we  have  said,  namely,  that  what  the  Buddha 
aimed  at  above  everything  else  was  to  find  deliverance  from 
individual  existence. 

Another  passage  which  illustrates  the  way  the  Buddha 
expressed  himself  on  this  central  doctrine  reads  as  follows : 
"  As  a  flame  blown  out  by  the  wind  goes  out  and  cannot  be 
reckoned  as  existing ;  so  a  sage  delivered  from  name  and 
body  disappears  and  cannot  be  reckoned  as  existing." 
And  when  his  disciple  asks  him,  "But  has  he  only  disap- 
peared, or  does  he  not  exist,  or  is  he  only  free  from  sickness  ?  " 
the  Buddha  replies,  "For  him  there  is  no  form  and  that  by 
which  they  say  he  is,  exists  for  him  no  longer."  Whether 
this  may  mean  that  the  sage  does  exist  in  a  higher  form 
though  free  from  the  forms  of  the  present  life,  is  a  question 
not  easily  answered.  One  thing,  however,  is  certain,  namely, 
that  the  Buddha  did  mean  that  the  sage  was  not  to  be  born 
again  into  this  life,  and  this  was  for  him  the  important  con- 
sideration ;  that  is  what  constituted  the  salvation  he  offered. 


38  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

He,  then,  who  would  win  this  salvation  let  him  walk  in 
the  Middle  Way,  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path ;  for  at  the  end 
of  this  path  he  shall  surely  find  deliverance.  He  will  become 
a  true  Arhat  who  can  face  the  future  in  perfect  peace,  for 
he  knows  that  henceforth  there  is  for  him  no  bondage. 
This  blessed  assurance  gives  the  only  joy  worth  having ; 
it  alone  can  satisfy  man's  desire.  The  Arhat  feels  no  need 
of  the  gods,  for  he  is  infinitely  superior  to  them.  They  are 
still  bound  to  the  Wheel  of  Life  even  though  they  may  be 
on  the  top  side  now.  The  future  will  certainly  bring  them 
to  the  bottom  again,  and  then  they  will  be  no  better  off  than 
other  beings.  The  Arhat,  on  the  other  hand,  is  neither  on 
the  top  side  nor  on  the  bottom  of  the  Wheel  of  Life ;  he  is 
totally  free  from  it. 

Now  from  all  that  has  been  said  thus  far  of  the  kernel  of 
the  Buddha's  teachings  it  is  clear  that  he  placed  the  emphasis 
quite  differently  from  where  it  was  placed  by  the  reli- 
gious teachers  of  his  day  or  from  where  it  is  usually  placed. 
He  agreed  with  the  thought  of  his  day  that  salvation  is  pri- 
marily "an  escape  from  the  evils  of  existence,"  and  also 
with  much  of  the  thought  of  his  day  in  the  belief  that,  after 
all,  man  must  save  himself.  But  he  held  these  two  doctrines 
with  a  rigor  with  which  few  held  them ;  and  because  of  this 
he  differed  rather  widely  both  from  the  thought  of  his  own 
age  and  the  thought  of  many  minds  in  all  ages  in  that  he 
left  practically  no  room  for  the  God-idea  or  for  a  real  future 
life  of  the  individual  —  two  cardinal  doctrines  of  practically 
all  religions. 

It  is  not  true  that  the  Buddha  was  an  out-and-out  atheist, 
as  is  frequently  asserted.  Of  course,  if  by  an  atheist  is  meant 
one  who  does  not  accept  the  Christian  conception  of  God  or 
the  theistic  conception  in  general,  then  he  was  an  atheist. 
And  it  is  also  true  that  he  had  very  little  to  say  either  about 
the  Brahman  of  the  philosophers  of  his  day  or  of  the  gods 
of  the  popular  pantheon.  But  it  is  not  true  that  he  denied 
either  the  existence  of  the  former  or  the  relative  existence 
of  the  latter.  The  most  that  can  be  said  is  that  he  regarded 
the  speculations  about  the  Absolute  as  a  waste  of  time,  i.e. 


THE  BUDDHA'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  39 

he  seemed  to  be  an  agnostic  rather  than  an  out-and-out 
atheist.  And  the  gods  of  the  common  people  he  regarded  as 
not  being  worthy  of  either  the  fear  or  the  reverence  given 
them.  As  we  said,  he  did  not  exactly  deny  their  existence, 
but  rather  held^that  they,  too,  belonged  to  the  world  of  change 
and  decay;  so  that  no  permanent  help  could  come  from 
them.  How  could  these  gods  really  help  mankind  ?  seeing 
that  they  could  not  deliver  themselves  from  the  "  dread  cycle 
of  existence"  to  which  they  were  still  bound.  Greater  than 
the  gods  was  he  who  like  himself  had  attained  enlightenment. 
And  the  God  of  Brahmin  speculation  was  too  far  removed 
from  the  real  needs  of  humanity  to  be  of  any  true  help.  In 
view  of  the  impotency  of  the  popular  gods  and  the  unknow- 
ability  of  the  Brahman,  man  must  work  out  his  own  salva- 
tion with  patience  and  persistency.  Thus,  though  theo- 
retically the  Buddha  cannot  be  regarded  as  an  atheist, 
practically  he  lived  as  one  who  was  without  God  and  with 
hope  only  in  himself. 

It  is  only  natural  that  the  average  Indian  did  not  under- 
stand the  Buddha's  conception  of  Karma  or  his  explanation 
of  the  cause  of  suffering.  And  it  also  seems  that  his  early 
disciples  did  not  all  follow  to  its  logical  conclusion  his  general 
attitude  towards  the  God-idea  or  the  future-life-idea.  Since 
he  placed  these  questions  among  the  Great  Indeterminates 
he  could  not  have  been  very  positive  in  his  teachings  on  these 
points,  and  so  it  is  safe  to  say  that  at  least  the  ordinary 
Buddhist  never  gave  up  entirely  his  trust  in  the  gods  nor 
his  hope  of  a  happy  future  life.  Even  among  the  thinkers 
in  the  early  Buddhist  community  it  would  seem  that  salva- 
tion was  regarded  as  more  than  a  mere  "escape  from  the 
dread  cycle  of  existence,"  but  to  this  was  also  added  the 
thought  that  it  was  at  the  same  time  a  happy  future  exist- 
ence of  real  content.  The  word  Nirvana  may  mean  the 
peace  of  annihilation,  but  it  is  not  the  only  expression  used 
by  the  early  Buddhists.  To  be  sure,  when  the  Buddhist 
speaks  from  the  standpoint  of  the  ethical  life  and  the  struggle 
with  the  lower  passions,  salvation  is  conceived  of  as  the 
"  great  emancipation,"  "  the  end  of  craving,"  "  the  going  out," 


40  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

or  "extinction";  but  there  are  other  expressions  which  have 
a  positive  content.  Thus  the  state  of  the  Arhat  is  spoken 
of  as  a  "  state  of  purity,"  "  the  supreme,"  "  the  transcendent," 
"the  uncreate,"  "the  tranquil,"  "the  unchanging,"  "the 
unshaken,"  "the  imperishable."  Such  expressions  as  these 
are  a  little  too  positive  in  content  to  stand  for  total  annihila- 
tion. Therefore  it  would  seem  that  while  the  Buddha  was 
himself  not  especially  interested  in  what  lay  at  the  end  of 
the  Noble  Eightfold  Path  except  that  it  meant  to  him  de- 
liverance from  the  bondage  of  individual  existence,  his  fol- 
lowers put  more  content  into  this  conception  of  salvation. 

But  whether  the  general  run  of  disciples  followed  the 
Buddha  in  these  great  questions  or  not,  they  could  under- 
stand his  practical  ethical  teachings,  which,  after  all,  was 
the  main  purpose  of  his  religion.  The  Middle  Way,^^  the 
Noble  Eightfold  Path,  was  a  true  way  of  deliverance  from 
the  lower  passions  and  the  coarser  sins ;  and  to  the  extent 
that  India  walked  in  this  way  to  that  extent  it  was  a  better 
India. 

The  weakness  of  Gautama's  religion  is  therefore  not  so 
much  in"  what  he  taught  positively,  but  rather  in  thinking 
that  religion  is  possible  without  having  some  positive  ideas 
as  to  the  great  problems  of  God,  the  soul  and  its  eternal 
destiny.  It  is  not  enough  to  offer  mankind  a  deliverance 
from  a  present  evil;  the  heart  craves  also  a  present  and 
future  good,  and  fellowship  with  a  power  that  makes  these 
certain.  To  be  sure,  practical  ethical  teachings  and  deliver- 
ance from  the  lower  passions  are  more  profitable  than  much 
idle  speculation  about  metaphysical  problems,  as  was  en- 
gaged in  by  Gautama's  contemporaries,  and  this  is  why  his 
religion  gained  such  a  speedy  hold  on  India ;  but,  after  all, 
the  heart  needs  more  and  demands  some  answer  to  these 
great  problems.  These  questions  will  not  down,  and  while 
it  may  be  impossible  to  give  perfectly  satisfactory  answers 
to  them,  the  teacher  of  religion  who  declines  to  make  an 
answer,  as  the  Buddha  seems  to  have  done  as  a  rule,  will 
find  that  either  his  system  will  soon  fade  away  or  that  his 
followers  will  try  to  answer  these  questions  for  themselves. 


SUCCESS  OF  NEW  RELIGION  41 

This  latter  fate  is  what  befell  Gautama's  religion.  Even 
in  the  Buddha's  own  lifetime  it  would  seem,  as  we  said, 
that  the  average  disciple  never  gave  up  entirely  his  alle- 
giance to  the  popular  gods  nor  his  hope  of  a  happier  future 
life.  And  in  the  course  of  the  centuries,  as  we  shall  see 
in  succeeding  chapters,  the  Buddhist  philosophers  them- 
selves not  only  gave  answers  to  these  deepest  questions 
of  the  human  heart,  but  frequently  in  a  way  that  was  quite 
contrary  to  the  conceptions  which  the  Buddha  seems  to  have 
held,  or  at  least  contrary  to  what  some  of  his  positive  teach- 
ings seem  to  imply.  All  the  gods  and  spirits  of  the  Indian 
pantheon  (and  later  the  gods  of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
pantheon)  came  back  into  Buddhism  with  a  glory  they 
hardly  had  in  pre-Buddhistic  days.  And  the  future  life 
for  the  individual  was  painted  in  the  most  positive  and 
lurid  colors  which  the  imagination  could  picture. 

But  we  are  going  ahead  of  our  subject,  for  this  belongs 
to  succeeding  chapters.  We  must  now  resume  the  narrative 
of  Gautama's  life  after  he  became  the  Buddha,  and  relate 
what  success  he  had  in  bringing  his  message  of  salvation 
outlined  above  to  the  people  of  India. 

C.    The  Success  of  the  Buddha's  Ministry 

Tradition  has  it  that  while  Gautama  was  engaged  in  his 
quest  of  truth  and  just  when  he  had  obtained  enlightenment 
he  was  harassed  with  attacks  from  Mara,  the  Buddhist 
tempter,  but  he  did  not  yield  to  these  temptations.  To 
be  sure,  he  gave  up,  as  we  have  said,  the  life  of  self-morti- 
fication, which  to  some  appeared  as  a  return  to  the  lusts 
of  the  flesh,  but  he  only  gave  up  one  of  the  extremes  of  life 
without  falling  into  the  other  extreme.  He  rigidly  adhered 
to  the  Middle  Path  of  moderation.  The  great  temptation 
therefore  did  not  lie  along  this  line,  though  many  Buddhist 
texts  have  also  much  to  say  of  how  the  Buddha  overcame 
these  grosser  temptations.  After  the  hour  of  illumination 
had  dawned  upon  him  the  subtle  temptation  came  to  him 
that  the  great  truth  which  he  had  discovered  was  too  pro- 
found for  this  stupid  world  and  that  he  had  better  forthwith 


42  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

enter  into  Nirvana,  taking  the  secret  with  him.  But  the 
World-Honored-One  also  overcame  this  temptation ;  and  in- 
stead of  selfishly  keeping  the  secret  to  himself,  he  began 
his  great  work  of  instructing  the  people  of  India  in  the  secrets 
of  the  Four  Great  Truths  and  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path. 

The  Buddha's  first  disciples,  it  would  seem,  were  the  five 
mendicants  who  had  been  his  companions  in  the  forests  of 
Uruvela,  but  who  had  forsaken  him  when  he  left  the  way  of 
austerities  for  the  Middle  Way  of  moderation.  Naturally 
they  were  prejudiced  against  him  after  their  experience,  but 
so  wonderful  was  his  way  of  salvation  that  they  entered  it 
gladly  as  soon  as  he  proclaimed  it  unto  them.  Beginning 
with  these  five,  his  disciples  soon  became  numerous.  They 
came  from  all  classes,  for  the  Buddha's  religion  was  not  a 
protest  against  India's  caste  system,  as  has  been  held  by  some. 
It  was  rather  above  caste  and  welcomed  men  from  every 
station  in  life.  To  be  sure,  he  attacked  the  Brahmin  priests 
of  his  day,  but  largely  because  he  felt  that  their  false  conceit 
about  Vedic  learning  and  ritual  observances  not  only  did 
not  save  man,  but  became  a  real  hindrance  to  salvation. 
They  were  blind  leaders  of  the  blind  and  needed  to  be  taught 
as  much  as  those  whom  they  tried  to  lead.  Let  them  aban- 
don their  false  learning  and  enter  the  one  Way  which  is  for 
all  castes  because  it  is  above  caste.  Apparently  a  good  many 
Brahmins  did  leave  their  own  rank  and  entered  the  com- 
munity of  the  Enlightened  One.  Some  converts  came  over 
from  rival  sects  ^^  w^hich  were  just  then  coming  into  life. 
Some  came  from  the  general  class  of  Wanderers  and  Hermits 
of  whom  we  spoke  above  and  who  belonged  to  no  particular 
sect  or  system.  The  majority  of  the  disciples,  however,  came 
from  the  people  in  general  who  were  as  sheep  without  a 
shepherd,  lost  in  the  desert  of  the  lower  passions  and  sin. 

Just  what  constituted  discipleship  may  be  hard  to  say; 
but  it  would  seem  that  rather  early  in  Buddhist  history  the 
Triple  Confession  was  set  up  as  the  door  of  entrance  to  the 
order,  namely,  the  confession,  "I  take  refuge  in  the  Buddha, 
I  take  refuge  in  the  Doctrine,  I  take  refuge  in  the  Order." 
Naturally,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  day,  there  were  certain 


SUCCESS  OF  NEW  RELIGION  43 

simple  rules  to  regulate  the  daily  conduct  of  those  who 
joined  the  order.  The  yellow  robe,  the  shaven  head  and 
the  begging  bowl  seem  early  to  have  been  the  outward 
badge  of  the  monk,  though  the  common  believer  did  not  go 
that  far  in  his  outward  change  of  life.  Beyond  subscribing 
to  the  above-mentioned  triple  confession  the  common  be- 
liever probably  subscribed  to  nothing  further  than  the  first 
five  of  the  ten  Buddhist  commandments  which  are  a  pro- 
hibition of:  (1)  the  destruction  of  life,  (2)  theft,  (3)  un- 
chastity,  (4)  falsehood,  and  (5)  the  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks.  Naturally  the  monks  had  to  observe  beyond  these 
the  remaining  of  the  ten  commandments,  which  are  a  pro- 
hibition of:  (6)  eating  at  forbidden  hours,  (7)  frequenting 
worldly  amusements  or  spectacles,  (8)  using  perfumes  and 
ornaments,  (9)  sleeping  on  a  raised  couch,  and  (10)  receiv- 
ing gifts  of  money.  In  the  course  of  time  these  simple 
rules  were  elaborated  and  developed  into  a  rather  rigorous 
code  of  discipline,  though  it  would  seem  that  this  was  not 
done  at  the  Buddha's  behest.  In  fact,  it  was  over  conten- 
tions as  to  what  constituted  the  proper  discipline  that  the 
Buddhist  church,  even  before  the  death  of  the  Buddha, 
began  to  develop  the  seeds  which  soon  grew  up  into  nu- 
merous schisms. 

Of  the  Buddha's  mode  of  life  and  activity  during  his  long 
ministry  of  forty-five  years  we  know  very  little  definitely. 
It  would  seem  that  nine  months  of  the  year  he  spent  in 
wandering  up  and  down  the  kingdoms  of  Magadha  and 
Kosala  (the  modern  Bihar  and  Oudh),  proclaiming  his  way 
of  salvation  to  whomsoever  would  listen.  The  remaining 
three  months,  i.e.  the  rainy  season,  he  spent  with  his  dis- 
ciples in  one  or  the  other  of  his  favorite  places  such  as  Ra- 
jagriha  in  Veluvana  or  Sravasti  in  Jetavana,  instructing 
them  in  the  fuller  meaning  of  his  doctrines.  The  latter 
place  seems  to  have  been  a  particularly  favorite  spot,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  many  sutras  begin  with  the 
formula,  "Thus  I  have  heard;  once  dwelt  the  Master  at 
Sravasti  in  Jetavana,  the  Park  of  Anathapindika."  This 
beautiful  spot,  like  other  similar  places,  was  a  gift  of  some 


44  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

admiring  wealthy  believer  and  proves  indirectly  what  a 
hold  the  Buddha  had  on  the  upper  classes  of  society. 

These  gathering  places  became  the  centers  from  which 
went  forth  the  Buddhist  disciples  in  ever  growing  numbers. 
They  went  forth  not  in  companies,  nor  even  in  pairs  as  did 
the  disciples  of  Christ,  but  singly  in  order  that  the  teaching 
might  be  spread  the  more  rapidly.  In  the  course  of  time 
these  temporary  abodes  became  permanent  places  of  resi- 
dence and  formed  the  beginning  of  that  chain  of  Buddhist 
monasteries  which  stretches  from  Ceylon  in  the  south 
through  central  and  eastern  Asia  to  the  Hokkaido  in  north- 
eastern Japan. 

Apparently  early  in  the  Buddha's  ministry,  he  gained  the 
sympathy  of  the  ruling  classes,  and  King  Bimbisara  of  Ma- 
gadha  in  particular  seems  to  have  been  his  patron.  But  it 
was  not  only  because  he  gained  the  ear  of  the  ruling  classes 
that  the  Buddha's  religion  spread  so  rapidly  and  without 
much  opposition;  rather  does  it  seem  that  a  remarkable 
spirit  of  tolerance  prevailed  in  the  India  of  that  distant  day, 
so  that  the  Buddha  and  his  disciples  could  go  where  they 
pleased  and  talk  with  whomsoever  they  met.  Of  course 
there  was  some  opposition  from  the  Brahmins  and  the  he- 
retical sects  which  arose  simultaneously  with  Buddhism,  but 
it  was  the  kind  of  opposition  that  helps  rather  than  hinders 
a  new  teaching. 

The  most  serious  obstacle  to  the  new  faith  came  not  from 
without,  but  from  within;  the  real  enemies  were  those  of 
his  own  spiritual  household.  Some  sources  have  it  that 
even  as  early  as  the  ninth  year  of  his  ministry  there  were 
quarrels  and  divisions  among  his  disciples.  While  it  is 
diflScult  to  distinguish  between  legend  and  real  history  in 
the  early  Buddhist  records,  it  would  seem  that  the  Buddha 
had  among  his  inner  circle  of  disciples  not  only  his  St.  John 
(Ananda)  but  also  his  Judas  Iscariot  (Devadatta).  De- 
vadatta  was  ambitious  to  become  the  head  of  the  order 
after  the  Master's  death.  When  he  was  denied  the  request 
to  be  made  the  head,  he  sought  to  destroy  his  master  by 
entering  into  a  plot  with  Ajatasatru,  the  son  of  King  Bim- 


SUCCESS  OF  NEW  RELIGION  45 

bisara,  who  dethroned  and  imprisoned  his  own  father.  But 
while  the  latter  succeeded  in  his  unholy  ambiLion,  Deva- 
datta's  success  was  not  so  immediate  or  complete.  It  would 
seem,  however,  that  while  he  did  not  become  the  head  of 
the  Buddhist  order  as  a  whole,  he  succeeded  in  gaining  a 
considerable  following,  and  so  caused  the  first  serious  schism 
in  the  Buddhist  ranks.  As  late  as  the  seventh  century 
A.D.  there  were  monks  who  followed  the  discipline  set  up 
by  Devadatta,  though  some  sources  say  that  the  rebellion 
was  only  of  short  duration. 

Another  difficulty  that  confronted  the  Buddha  was  the 
woman  problem.  What  attitude  should  the  new  religion 
take  toward  the  weaker  sex?  Buddhism,  we  said,  was 
above  caste,  but  the  sex  problem  seems  to  have  been  more 
troublesome.  As  a  young  man  of  twenty-nine  Siddhartha, 
before  he  became  the  Buddha,  had  forsaken  his  wife  and 
child,  for  family  life  was  too  much  a  life  of  earthly  fetters 
for  one  who  wished  to  walk  in  the  path  of  holiness.  It 
would  seem,  however,  that  afterwards  the  Buddha  returned 
to  his  home,  not  to  assume  the  family  relationships,  but  to 
proclaim  his  way  of  salvation  to  his  wife  and  child  and  to 
his  father  and  other  relatives.  We  also  read  of  women 
from  all  classes  who  heard  his  message  gladly.  And  how 
could  the  Buddha  deny  salvation  to  woman  when  he  pro- 
fessed to  proclaim  a  way  of  salvation  for  all  sentient  beings  ? 

But  while  the  new  religion  was  to  be  a  way  of  salvation 
for  all,  it  did  not  mean  that  all  were  equally  near  the  king- 
dom. And  woman,  just  because  she  is  woman,  was  regarded 
by  the  Buddha  as  being  at  least  one  step  further  removed 
than  man.  When  the  question  arose  as  to  whether  she  was 
to  be  admitted  to  the  Buddhist  order  on  equal  terms  with 
men,  he  hesitated  and  only  with  great  reluctance  did  he 
finally  yield  the  point.  The  following  supposed  conversa- 
tion between  him  and  his  beloved  disciple  Ananda  illus- 
trates his  attitude. 

"How  shall  we  behave  toward  a  woman?"  asks  Ananda. 
"Avoid  the  sight  of  her,"  replies  the  Buddha.  "But  if 
we  see  her.  Sir,  what  shall  we  do  then?"     "Not  speak  to 


46  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

her,  Ananda."  "And  if  she  speaks  to  us,  Sir,  what  then?" 
"Then  be  wary,  Ananda." 

Another  passage  equally  characteristic  reads,  "O  monks, 
look  not  upon  a  woman.  If  you  meet  a  woman  do  not 
look  at  her  and  be  careful  not  to  speak  with  her.  If  you 
do  speak  with  her  say  to  yourself,  *I  am  a  monk,  I  must 
live  in  this  corrupt  world  like  an  uncontaminated  lotus 
blossom.'  An  elderly  woman  regard  as  your  mother,  one  a 
little  older  than  yourself,  as  an  elder  sister,  and  a  younger 
woman  as  your  younger  sister."  Naturally  in  going  from 
house  to  house  with  his  begging  bowl,  the  monk  frequently 
came  in  contact  with  women,  and  so  the  regulations  were 
rather  strict.  The  monk  was  to  cover  his  face  with  his  outer 
garment  and  with  downcast  eyes  was  to  receive  what  was 
offered  him  and  then  take  his  departure,  uttering  a  blessing 
but  without  looking  at  the  fair  giver.  The  scriptures  are 
full  of  records  of  temptations  overcome,  but,  alas,  also  of 
failures. 

While  Buddhist  nuns  have  never  been  as  numerous  as  the 
monks  or  played  as  prominent  a  part  in  the  history  of  this 
religion,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  woman  has  had  a  big 
share  in  spreading  the  teachings  of  the  Buddha,  especially 
through  her  deeds  of  mercy  and  labors  of  love.  In  fact, 
woman  has  done  a  good  deal  more  for  Buddhism  than 
Buddhism  has  done  for  woman ;  especially  does  this  seem 
to  be  the  case  w^hen  compared  with  what  Christianity  has 
done  for  her.  The  attitude  of  the  Buddha  toward  woman 
was,  of  course,  a  very  natural  attitude  for  an  Indian  of 
that  day  to  take,  and  it  simply  shows  that  he  was,  after  all^ 
very  much  a  product  of  his  own  age  and  environment. 
The  Buddhist  apologist  may  say  that  it  was  an  accom- 
modation of  his  teachings  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  times, 
and  there  is  an  element  of  truth  in  this,  but  the  succeeding 
centuries  in  all  Buddhist  lands  have  proved  beyond  a  shadow 
of  a  doubt  that  the  religion  which  came  to  save  all  sen- 
tient beings  and  which  undoubtedly  has  done  much  to  exalt 
gentleness  and  kindness  towards  all  creatures,  has  done 
comparatively  little  for  woman  as  woman. 


SUCCESS  OF  NEW  RELIGION  47 

The  Buddha  ended  his  long  ministry  of  about  forty-five 
years,  ripe  in  age  and  experience.  He  had  been  spending 
the  rainy  season  near  Vaisali  when  he  became  seriously 
ill.  He  recovered  somewhat  and  went  on  his  way  to  Kusi- 
nagara.  Along  the  way  he  stopped  to  dine  with  a  disciple 
who  gave  him  fat  pork  which  is  said  to  have  brought  on  the 
end  soon  after  reaching  Kusinagara.  Ananda,  his  favorite  dis- 
ciple, was  at  his  side  and  wept  bitterly  when  he  saw  the  last 
hour  approaching.  The  dying  Buddha  comforted  him  with 
these  words :  "  Let  it  suffice,  O  Ananda,  grieve  not,  neither 
mourn.  Have  I  not  told  you  that  man  must  endure  the 
separation  from  all  that  is  dear  and  pleasant.  How  is  it  pos- 
sible, O  Ananda,  that  that  which  is  born,  which  becomes, 
which  is  compounded  and  subject  to  change,  that  this  does 
not  end  ?  It  must  be  so.  You,  0  Ananda,  have  long  served 
the  Perfect  One  with  love  and  care,  with  benefit  and  good, 
without  deceit  and  incessantly,  with  heart,  mouth  and  hands. 
You  have  done  good,  O  Ananda ;  be  diligent,  soon  you  will  be 
free  from  evil."  And  again  he  said,  "  It  may  be,  O  Ananda, 
that  you  harbor  the  thought  the  doctrine  has  lost  its  master, 
and  that  there  is  no  longer  any  master.  You  should  not 
look  at  the  matter  in  this  way.  The  Law  and  the  Disci- 
pline which  I  have  taught  and  proclaimed,  these  are  your 
master  after  my  departure."  He  then  made  certain  arrange- 
ments for  the  future,  asked  the  monks  three  times  whether 
any  of  them  had  any  doubts  in  regard  to  the  teachings, 
and  when  all  kept  silent  he  said,  "O  Disciples:  I  speak  to 
you.  Everything  that  becomes  is  transient.  Work  dili- 
gently for  your  salvation."  With  these  words  on  his  lips 
he  passed  away. 

The  funeral  ceremonies  are  said  to  have  continued  for 
seven  days;  on  the  eighth  day  the  remains  were  cremated 
and  the  ashes  were  divided  among  the  various  rulers  and 
nobles  who  had  become  adherents  of  the  new  faith.  A 
portion  was  given  to  the  S'akyan  clan,  who  buried  the 
sacred  remains  and  erected  on  the  spot  a  stupa.  It  is  prob- 
ably this  stupa  which  was  discovered  in  1898  by  W.  C. 
Peppe  at  Piprava  in  Tarai.     This,  when  opened,  was  found 


48  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

to  contain  an  urn  inclosing  various  objects  of  crystal  and 
gold.  Below  this  urn  was  found  a  large  sandstone  sar- 
cophagus brought  evidently  from  some  distance.  Within 
the  sarcophagus  was  an  urn  with  an  inscription  in  the  Ma- 
gadhi  language  written  in  the  old  Brahmi  script  which  reads 
as  follows  : 

"This  vessel  containing  the  relics  of  the  exalted  Buddha 
of  the  tribe  of  the  S'akyans  is  the  reverent  gift  of  the 
brothers  and  sisters  with  the  children  and  women." 

Besides  this  urn  the  sarcophagus  contained  another  urn 
and  two  vases,  all  of  which  were  half-filled  with  ornaments 
of  gold,  silver,  diamonds,  crystals  of  various  shapes  such  as 
stars,  flowers,  men,  women,  birds,  elephants,  etc.,  also  gold 
plates  with  images  of  lions  and  the  mystical  Svastika. 

This  discovery  gives  the  early  Buddhist  records  and  tradi- 
tions an  atmosphere  of  historical  reality  which,  perhaps, 
they  did  not  have  before ;  and  while  we  are  still  a  long  way 
from  knowing  the  full  facts  of  the  Buddha's  life,  no  one  can 
safely  deny  any  longer  the  historicity  of  the  personality  of 
Gautama  Buddha. 

If  after  what  we  have  said  about  the  kernel  of  early 
Buddhism  the  reader  wonders  how  it  was  possible  that  such 
a  doctrine  could  win  such  a  speedy  popularity  and  success, 
we  might  remark  that  the  Buddha  was  himself  often  better 
than  his  logic ;  and,  after  all,  it  was  the  practical  side  of  his 
teachings  that  appealed  to  the  people  of  India.  As  a  later 
Buddhist  philosopher  put  it,  "The  doctrine  in  its  logical 
fullness  was  a  teaching  only  for  the  wise,  not  for  fools," 
but  practically  the  Buddha  preached  the  importance  of 
conquering  the  evil  passions,  overcoming  the  five  hindrances 
of  sensuality,  ill-will,  torpor  of  mind  or  body,  worry,  and 
wavering.  "To  have  faith  and  good  works,  to  renounce 
the  pomp  and  vanities  of  life,  to  show  kindness  to  every 
living  thing,  to  seek  salvation,  to  understand  and  so  finally 
to  leave  no  second  self  behind  to  suffer  again  "  in  this  life 
of  suffering  —  these  were  the  things  which  appealed  to 
India,  and  especially  to  those  who  were  surfeited  with  the 
things  of  life  and  were  world-weary.     And  even  if  salvation 


SUCCESS  OF  NEW  RELIGION  49 

and  Nirvana  did  mean  total  annihilation  to  some,  we  should 
never  forget  that  life  to  many  in  India  has  never  had  the 
fascination  and  interest  that  it  has  for  the  Westerner,  and 
the  highest  bliss  to  many  could  only  be  the  bliss  of  non- 
existence. It  is  not  merely  ceasing  to  exist  in  this  present 
bodily  life,  for  then  suicide  would  be  the  remedy,  but  ceas- 
ing from  being  bound  to  the  Wheel  of  Life,  "  the  dread 
cycle  of  birth,  suffering,  and  death"  on  and  on  without  an 
end.  It  may  be  difficult  for  the  Westerner,  with  his  love 
and  passion  for  life  and  self-expression,  to  understand  this 
point  of  view,  but  in  India  with  its  hot  climate,  its  poverty 
and  suffering,  the  pessimistic  mood  which  looks  upon  life 
as  a  great  evil  rather  than  an  achievable  good,  seems  natural. 
In  fact,  no  matter  what  system  of  philosophy  or  religion 
holds  the  field  in  India,  this  pessimistic  mood  seems  to  run 
through  all  of  them,  and  while  the  Buddha  worked  some 
practical  reforms  and  on  the  whole  stood  for  a  loftier  ethical 
life  than  the  systems  of  his  day,  in  the  last  analysis  his 
system,  too,  was  of  one  piece  with  the  others.  He,  too, 
saw  life  as  incurably  evil  and  held  that  the  only  way  of 
escape  from  this  evil  was  to  cut  as  much  as  possible  the  bonds 
which  tie  man  to  life.  Even  the  bonds  of  love  which  tie 
a  husband  to  his  wife  and  a  father  to  his  child  had  to  be 
cut  if  freedom  is  to  be  gained.  So  while  the  Western  mind 
of  to-day  may  marvel  at  the  quick  success  of  Gautama's 
religion  in  India,  it  is  not  strange  when  understood  in  the 
light  of  its  time  and  environment. 

The  Buddha's  religion  was  undoubtedly  the  best  of  its 
day.  It  delivered  men  from  the  fears  and  superstitions  of 
a  gross  polytheism  and  demonology  and  taught  kindness  and 
the  way  of  moderation  to  all.  But  even  better  than  his 
religion  was  the  founder  himself.  Strange  as  it  may  seem, 
he  who  apparently  denied  the  existence  of  a  true  personality 
was  one  of  the  greatest  personalities  the  world  has  seen. 
The  unbiased  student  will  have  no  hesitation  in  recognizing 
his  essential  sincerity  in  facing  life's  deepest  problems.  Such 
sincerity,  linked  with  real  ability,  was  bound  to  make 
a  great  impression  upon  the  life  of  India.     The  Buddha 


50  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

must  therefore  be  classed  among  the  great  men  of  the  world, 
and  the  religion  which  he  founded  five  hundred  years  before 
Christ  is  to  this  day  one  of  the  living  world-religions  with 
which  Christianity  has  to  reckon. 

Of  its  progress  in  India  and  its  spread  into  the  surrounding 
countries  as  well  as  its  change  from  its  primitive  form  into 
Mahayana  Buddhism  we  shall  deal  in  our  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II 

Development  of  Primitive  Buddhism  into  Mahayana 

Buddhism 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  tried  to  give  very  briefly 
the  circumstances  under  which  Buddhism  arose  in  India  as 
well  as  a  concise  statement  of  what  may  be  regarded  as  the 
essence  of  Gautama's  teachings.  We  showed  how  Buddhism 
was  a  tremendous  reduction  of  Brahmanism.  Much  of  the 
metaphysical  speculations  about  the  Brahman,  the  One  All, 
and  the  relation  of  the  individual  to  it  was  brushed  aside 
as  vain  mental  gymnastics,  for  such  problems,  the  Buddha 
held,  were  beyond  the  powers  of  the  human  mind.  And 
many  of  the  beliefs  regarding  spirits,  gods,  and  demons 
innumerable  which  filled  the  world  of  the  common  people 
he  denounced  as  mere  ignorance  and  superstition.  So  far 
did  he  go  in  his  opposition  to  the  views  generally  held  by 
the  masses  that  in  some  of  his  sayings  he  went  to  the  extreme 
position  of  apparently  denying  the  reality  of  the  human 
self  and  therefore  the  possibility  of  a  future  personal  exist- 
ence. And  his  attitude  towards  speculations  on  meta- 
physical problems,  especially  the  problem  as  to  the  under- 
lying core  of  all  reality,  led  him  to  a  position  which  for  all 
practical  purposes  was  one  of  atheism,  or  at  least  an  agnostic 
position,  so  that  he  had  little  or  nothing  to  say  about  God. 

This  is  the  negative  side  of  the  Buddha's  teachings.  The 
positive  side  clusters  around  the  Four  Noble  Truths  and  the 
Middle  Way  or  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path.  The  essence  of 
the  teachings  in  short  is  this :  Life  is  essentially  pain  and 
sorrow.  Pain  and  sorrow  have  their  roots  in  ignorance  and 
our  passionate  cravings  and  desires.  The  tap-root,  as  it 
were,  of  all  our  desires  and  cravings  is  the  desire  for  self- 

51 


52  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

expression ;  yea,  the  blossom  and  fruit  on  the  tree  of  igno- 
rance is  the  beHef  in  the  reality  of  the  (empirical)  self.  Now 
it  is  possible  to  escape  from  this  life  of  sorrow  and  pain  — 
not  by  being  saved  into  an  eternal  heaven  by  the  gods,  or 
by  an  almighty  God,  but  by  a  slow  process  of  (self-) culture 
and  discipline  until  one  attains  enlightenment,  in  which  one 
sees  that  all  the  things  of  our  life  are  mere  shadows  and 
illusions  and  that  our  very  self  (at  least  the  empirical  self) 
has  no  real  existence.  This  state  of  enlightenment  is  attained 
through  obedience  to  the  Middle  Way,  the  Noble  Eight- 
fold Path  of  Right  Views,  Right  Aspirations,  Right  Speech, 
Right  Conduct,  Right  Mode  of  Livelihood,  Right  Effort, 
Right  Mindfulness,  and  Right  Rapture. 

We  also  said  that  while  these  teachings  about  the  non- 
reality  of  the  self  and  the  practical  denial  of  the  existence 
of  God  were  the  logical  conclusion  of  Gautama's  main  posi- 
tion and  the  truth  as  held  by  the  Buddhist  philosopher, 
they  were  never  held  in  that  extreme  form  by  the  general 
run  of  Buddhist  believers,  and  these  never  gave  up  entirely 
the  belief  in  the  existence  of  God,  or  the  gods,  and  the  be- 
lief in  the  reality  of  the  self  and  a  future  personal  existence. 

Now  in  this  chapter  we  wish  to  trace  very  briefly  the 
spread  of  Buddhism  into  the  neighboring  countries  and  its 
development  into  what  is  known  as  Mahayana  Buddhism, 
which,  as  we  shall  see  as  we  go  on,  is  often  radically  dif- 
ferent from  Gautama's  teachings  in  its  attitude  to  even  the 
cardinal  elements  of  religion. 

A.    The  Buddhism  of  Asoha's  Day 

When  the  founder  of  Buddhism  died,  about  the  year  480 
B.C.,  the  new  religion  had  already  won  for  itself  a  real  place 
in  India's  life.  It  was  apparently  popular  with  all  classes 
of  society,  and  the  Buddha  was  in  favor  with  high  and  low, 
even  kings  and  noblemen  delighting  to  do  him  honor  and 
helping  further  his  cause.  Just  how  far  the  new  religion 
spread  during  the  lifetime  of  its  founder  it  would  be  dif- 
ficult to  say.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  region  be- 
tween the  Ganges  and  the  Himalayas,  with  Patna  and  Allaha- 


THE  BUDDHISM  OF  ASOKA'S  DAY  53 

bad  as  the  eastern  and  western  limits,  is  the  general  field  of 
its  early  activities. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  all  was  plain  sail- 
ing in  the  early  Buddhist  community.  Not  only  were  the 
Brahmins  beginning  to  show  active  opposition  to  the  new 
faith,  but  there  were  also  fightings  within  the  Buddhist 
ranks.  We  have  already  spoken  of  Devadatta's  rebellion 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  Buddha.  Immediately  after  the 
founder's  death  we  hear  of  the  monk  Subhadra  addressing 
the  grieving  disciples  with  the  rebellious  words  :  "Brethren, 
quit  your  wailing  and  mourning.  We  are  fortunate  in  being 
free  of  the  great  ascetic.  He  worried  us  with  his  saying, 
'this  is  proper  and  that  is  not  proper.'  Now  we  shall  do 
what  we  please  and  whatever  does  not  suit  us  we  shall  not 
do."  These  words  show  that  the  seeds  of  discord  had 
long  been  sown  and  that  they  would  soon  spring  up  and 
bear  fruit.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  read  that  when, 
soon  after  the  founder's  death,  the  first  great  council  ^  of 
the  Buddha's  disciples  was  held  at  Rajagriha,  at  which  a 
part  of  the  early  canon  was  fixed  (probably  a  part  of  the 
Vinaya  and  Sutra  pitakas),  there  were  many  monks  (500 
according  to  one  tradition),  headed  by  Purana,  who  did  not 
accept  the  findings  of  the  official  body  and  so  held  a  council 
of  their  own.  And  at  a  second  great  council,  held  at  Vaisali 
about  one  hundred  years  after  the  first  council,  we  find  that 
Buddhism  is  already  beginning  to  be  hopelessly  divided, 
there  being  some  eighteen  or  twenty  different  schools. 

With  these  divisions  in  the  ranks  of  Buddhism  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  new  religion  found  it  difficult  to  cope  wuth 
Brahmanism,  which  under  the  stimulus  provided  by  the 
heretical  teachings  of  the  day  was  showing  signs  of  new 
life.  Then  in  addition  to  this  a  great  calamity  from  the 
outside  befell  the  home  of  Buddhism.  Northern  and  central 
India  was  overrun  by  the  armies  of  Alexander  the  Great; 
and  with  war  and  rumors  of  war  Buddhism  found  itself  more 
and  more  circumscribed.  Obviously  a  religion  which  made 
all  self-expression  wrong  and  regarded  even  the  killing  of  an 
insect  as  an  accumulation  of  evil  Karma,  would  not  be 


54  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

very  well  fitted  to  help  resist  the  foreign  invader.  It  is 
true  that  Alexander's  hold  on  India  was  not  strong  and  did 
not  last  long,  for  after  his  death  Chandragupta,  founder 
of  the  Mauryan  dynasty,  established  a  strong  kingdom  of 
his  own,  one  which  also  included  the  kingdom  of  Magadha, 
the  geographical  center  of  early  Buddhism.  The  signifi- 
cance for  Buddhism  of  the  founding  of  the  new  kingdom 
under  Chandragupta  was  the  fact  that  Chandragupta's 
grandson,  King  Asoka  {i.e.  Asoka  Priyadarsin,  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  King  Asoka  who  lived  about  a  century 
earlier,  known  as  Kalasoka  or  the  Black  Asoka),  was  a  great 
patron  of  Buddhism,  He  is  sometimes  called  the  Con- 
stantine  of  Buddhism. 

During  Asoka's  reign,  which  extended  probably  over  the 
middle  decades  of  the  third  century  B.C.,  Buddhism  may  be 
said  to  have  been  changed  from  a  local  cult  to  a  real  world- 
religion.  Asoka  had  waded  through  blood  to  his  throne,  and 
then  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  spreading  a  religion 
of  retirement,  mercy,  and  peace.  Fortunately  for  the  his- 
torian King  Asoka  carved  his  imperial  edicts  upon  pillars 
of  stone  which  are  being  found  to-day  all  over  what  was 
once  his  extensive  kingdom.  On  at  least  three  different 
stones  and  in  different  parts  of  India  were  found  the  names 
of  five  Greek  kings  written  in  two  different  alphabets.  These 
five  kings  are :  Antiochus  Theos,  who  reigned  at  Antioch 
from  B.C.  262-247;  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  who  reigned  at 
Alexandria  from  B.C.  285-247;  Antigonus  Gonatas  of 
Macedon,  who  reigned  from  B.C.  287-239 ;  Magas  of  Gy- 
rene, B.C.  308-258;  and  Alexander  of  Epirus,  B.C.  272-219. 
From  these  inscriptions  on  Asoka's  stone  pillars  we  can  fix 
fairly  accurately  the  date  of  this  royal  patron  of  Buddhism, 
and  his  date  becomes  one  of  the  very  few  guideposts  for  a 
study  of  the  beginnings  of  this  religion.  Now  during  the 
eighteenth  year  of  Asoka's  reign  (probably  about  the  year 
245  B.C.)  he  called  a  great  religious  council  at  Pataliputra. 
The  object  of  this  council  was  apparently  to  purify  the 
Buddhist  order.  Many  abuses  and  great  laxity  had 
crept   in.      In   fact,  it   would   seem   that  for  seven  years 


THE  BUDDHISM  OF  ASOKA'S  DAY  55 

the  ordinary  confessional  had  been  entirely  neglected  by 
the  monks,  and  many  called  themselves  Buddhists  who 
knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  master's  teachings.  Tradition 
has  it  that  60,000  monks  were  excommunicated  as  heretics 
and  their  representatives  were  not  admitted  to  this  great 
council,  which  is  usually  regarded  as  the  Third  Great 
Council,  One  thousand  monks  versed  in  the  doctrine  and 
true  to  the  discipline  as  handed  down  constituted  the  offi- 
cial bod}^  The  leader  of  this  third  great  council  was  Maud- 
galiputra,  and  it  was  he  who  at  this  time  is  supposed  to  have 
composed  the  famous  Katha-Vatthu  which  in  the  Pali  ver- 
sion is  preserved  to  this  day  and  which  probably  gives 
us  the  most  authentic  statement  of  what  orthodox  Buddhists 
in  the  third  century  B.C.  held  to  be  the  true  teachings  of  the 
founder  of  their  religion.  It  also  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  what 
w^ere  the  main  digressions  from  the  orthodox  position. 

This  third  great  council  was  of  great  historic  consequences 
for  Buddhism,  for  the  zeal  which  sought  to  correct  the 
laxity  among  the  monks  was  apparently  of  real  vitality 
and  led  to  a  great  missionary  propaganda.  Under  the  pro- 
tection of  its  royal  patron  the  religion  of  Gautama  reached 
out  into  the  neighboring  countries.  Asoka  claimed  that 
he  made  Buddhism  known  not  only  throughout  India  but 
also  that  he  sent  missionaries  to  Cashmere,  Kubalistan,  the 
Grseco-Bactrian  kingdom,  Burma,  and  Ceylon.  Particularly 
successful  was  his  mission  to  Cevlon ;  for  when  later  on 
Buddhism  was  driven  from  India  proper  and  Northern  Bud- 
dhism had  developed  into  something  quite  different  from  the 
religion  of  the  founder,  Ceylon  Buddhism  kept  fairly  true 
to  the  original  type.  And  it  is  in  the  Ceylon  Chronicles 
that  we  find  Asoka's  claims  more  or  less  confirmed.  They 
record  that  Asoka  sent  missionaries,  not  only  to  Ceylon,  but 
also  to  Cashmere  and  the  Greek  realms.  An  echo  of  this 
mission  to  the  Greek  realms  may  be  seen  in  the  statement 
of  Epiphanius,  according  to  which  the  librarian  of  King 
Ptolemy  at  Alexandria  was  anxious  to  translate  certain 
Indian  books.  At  any  rate  it  is  safe  to  say  that  during 
Asoka's  reign  Buddhism  spread  northward  into  what  at 


56  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

one  time  was  a  part  of  the  "Greek  realms"  of  Alexander 
and  his  immediate  successors. 

The  glimpse  which  we  get  of  the  Buddhism  of  Asoka's 
day  —  and  this  is  the  important  thing  for  our  present  pur- 
pose —  would  indicate  that  while  Buddhism  had  undergone 
some  changes  since  the  days  of  its  founder,  it  had  not  yet 
developed  into  what  we  now  know  as  Mahay  ana  Buddhism. 
It  was,  however,  beginning  to  show  tendencies  along  those 
lines. 

We  have  already  stated  above  that  by  the  time  of  the 
great  council  of  Vaisali  eighteen  or  twenty  different  schools 
had  developed.  These  were,  of  course,  minor  differences; 
but  in  the  course  of  time  the  more  radical  of  these  schools 
became  the  core  of  the  liberal  wing  of  Buddhism  which 
developed  into  Mahayana  Buddhism ;  the  more  conserva- 
tive wing  corresponding  roughly  to  what  is  meant  to-day 
by  the  term  Hinayana  Buddhism.  The  tendencies  in  Asoka's 
day  towards  these  two  great  wings  may  be  seen  most  clearly 
from  the  differences  in  regard  to  three  main  points. 

In  the  first  place  it  seems  clear  that  the  old  soul-theories 
rejected  by  the  Buddha  and  his  early  followers  were  getting 
a  stronger  hold  from  year  to  year.  If  they  did  not  come 
back  into  Buddhism  in  their  exact  old  forms,  the  more 
liberal  Buddhists  were  at  least  ready  to  make  a  compromise 
with  the  demands  of  non-Buddhistic  thought  that  the  soul 
is  a  permanent  reality.  In  the  second  place,  Gautama,  who 
had  robbed  the  gods  of  their  glory  by  teaching  that  they, 
too,  were  subject  to  the  law  of  change  and  decay,  was  him- 
self being  glorified  as  God,  or  at  least  as  the  revelation  of  the 
Divine.  Gradually  the  legends  centering  around  his  birth 
and  ministry  increased  in  their  miraculous  elements  (see 
Jataka  stories)  until  Gautama  the  man  was  disappearing 
entirely,  and  we  have  a  superhuman  being  far  removed 
from  the  Gautama  of  history.  Then,  in  the  third  place,  the 
ideal  of  salvation  which  the  Buddha  had  held  out  as  the 
highest,  namely,  Arhatship,  which  meant  primarily  enlight- 
enment for  self,  was  giving  way  in  the  liberal  wing  to  the 
more  altruistic  ideal  of  the  Bodhisattva  state,  i.e.  enlighten- 


THE  RISE  OF  MAHAYANA  57 

ment  for  the  benefit  of  others.  The  Bodhisattva  is  wilHng 
to  be  born  again  and  again  into  this  world  of  sin  and  suffer- 
ing in  order  that  through  his  many  incarnations  of  good 
works  he  might  help  others. 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  three  great  changes  are  closely 
connected  with  one  another,  and  that  any  one  of  them 
really  implies  the  other  two.  For  example,  the  change 
from  Gautama  the  Great  Teacher,  or  Super-man,  to  the 
divine  Buddha  implied  that  the  historical  personality  known 
as  Siddhartha,  or  Gautama,  had  preexistence.  Such  good- 
ness and  wisdom  as  were  his  were  far  "too  perfect  to  have 
been  wrought  out  or  developed  in  a  single  lifetime." 
Through  ages  upon  ages  he  had  exercised  himself  in  the 
perfection  of  wisdom  and  all  virtues  and  therefore  there 
must  have  been  a  real  continuity  of  personality.  And  es- 
pecially as  the  Buddha  was  said  to  have  been  willing  to  be 
born  again  and  again  for  the  good  of  humanity  (this  is  the 
ideal  of  the  true  Bodhisattva)  does  it  seem  clear  that  he 
must  have  had  a  real  personal  identity  from  incarnation 
to  incarnation,  i.e.  an  identity  other  than  the  old-fashioned 
Karma  identity. 

We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  in  Asoka's  day  any  one  of 
these  three  characteristics  of  ]\Iahavana  Buddhism  as  dis- 
tinguished  from  Hinayana  Buddhism  was  fully  developed, 
but  even  at  that  early  date  these  tendencies  were  beginning  to 
manifest  themselves.  And  the  third  great  council  of  Buddhism 
convened  by  King  Asoka  may  be  regarded  as  marking  the 
real  parting  of  the  ways ;  one  great  school  remaining  more 
or  less  true  to  original  Buddhism,  and  the  other  diverging 
gradually  until  in  many  respects,  even  in  things  fundamental, 
it  often  ran  quite  counter  to  the  way  laid  down  by  Gautama.^ 

B.    The  Rise  of  Mahay  ana  Buddhism 

The  period  following  Asoka's  day  and  down  to  the  first 
century  B.C.  is  practically  a  closed  book  to  the  historian.  It 
would  seem,  however,  that  Asoka's  empire,  in  spite  of  its 
apparent  greatness,  soon  fell  to  pieces.  And  with  its  ruin 
Buddhism  fell  on  hard  days  again.     The  royal  patron  was 


58  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

gone,  and  Hinduism  rejuvenated  had  its  revenge  and  began 
to  force  Buddhism  to  the  wall.  Fortunately  the  wall  was 
not  insurmountable  and  the  misfortunes  at  home  led  to 
prosperity  abroad.  To  the  northwest  of  India,  among  the 
Parthians,  Yuetchi,  and  the  outer  branches  of  the  S'akyans, 
Buddhism  apparently  found  a  welcome,  and  it  is  largely 
in  this  region  that  we  must  look  for  the  further  development 
of  that  expanded  and  altered  form  of  Buddhism  which  later 
on  became  the  religion  of  central  and  northeastern  Asia 
and  which  to  this  day  largely  claims  the  allegiance  of  Japan. 

What  were  the  factors  which  worked  the  profound  change 
from  the  religion  of  the  founder  and  of  King  Asoka's  day 
to  the  Buddhism  which  won  the  hearts  of  central  and  north- 
eastern Asia  during  the  first  six  or  seven  centuries  of  our 
era,  remains  still  a  dark  problem.  Let  us  indicate  a  few  of 
these  profound  changes. 

We  have  already  pointed  out  that,  even  in  Asoka's  day, 
i.e.  in  the  third  century  B.C.,  there  were  evidences  of  great 
changes  coming  over  Buddhism.  Those  tendencies  became 
stronger  as  time  went  on  and  they  in  turn  brought  about 
other  changes.  Thus  we  have  not  only  a  tendency  to  deify 
Gautama,  but  in  such  scriptures  as  the  Saddharma-Pun- 
darika  and  the  Paradise  sutras  Gautama  as  a  human  being 
seems  to  have  disappeared  altogether  and  is  replaced  by 
the  Eternal  Buddha,  or  Buddhas.  The  historical  Buddhas 
are  many,  each  age  or  cycle  having  its  own,  but  all  these 
Buddhas  are  but  manifestations  of  the  Eternal  Buddha, 
or  Buddhas.  Some  scriptures  speak  of  five  historical 
Buddhas  who  preceded  Gautama  Buddha,  others  give  long 
lists  of  names,  and  still  others,  without  attempting  to  give 
their  names,  say  that  the  Buddhas  are  millions  and  tril- 
lions ;  yea,  equal  in  number  to  the  grains  of  sand  on  the 
banks  of  the  sacred  Ganges.  "The  blessed  Buddhas  equal 
in  number  the  sand  of  the  Ganga." 

Another  great  change  is  the  change  in  the  conception  of 
the  future  life.  If  Gautama  placed  the  subject  of  the  future 
life  of  the  Arhat  among  the  great  Indeterminates,  the  author, 
or  authors,  of  the  Paradise  sutras  were  of  nothing  more 


THE  RISE  OF  MAHAYANA  59 

certain  than  the  future  life  of  the  saved.  Not  only  did 
Buddhists  teach  positively  a  doctrine  of  a  future  life ;  they 
actually  filled  it  with  all  the  pleasures  of  sense  which  the 
imagination  of  man  can  conjure  up.  To  quote  but  one  of 
many  descriptions  of  the  Buddhist  heaven:  "In  the  land 
of  Highest  Happiness  there  are  waters  in  eight  lakes;  the 
water  in  every  lake  consists  of  seven  jewels  which  are  soft 
and  yielding.  Deriving  its  source  from  the  King  of  Jewels 
that  fulfills  every  wish,  the  water  is  divided  into  fourteen 
streams;  every  stream  has  the  colour  of  seven  jewels;  its 
channel  is  built  of  gold,  the  bed  of  which  consists  of  the 
sand  of  variegated  diamonds.  .  .  .  From  the  King  of  Jewels 
that  fulfils  every  wish,  stream  forth  the  golden-coloured 
rays  excessively  beautiful,  the  radiance  of  which  transforms 
itself  into  birds  possessing  the  colours  of  a  hundred  jewels, 
which  sing  out  harmonious  notes  sweet  and  delicious,  ever 
praising  the  remembrance  of  Buddha,  the  remembrance 
of  the  Law,  and  the  remembrance  of  the  Church."  (Ami- 
tayur-Dhyana-siJtra,  sec.  13.)  And  so  one  may  read  page 
after  page  of  extravagant  description  of  the  beauties  of 
Paradise  inhabited  by  myriads  of  Buddhas.  Surely  a  great 
change  has  come  over  Buddhist  conceptions  of  the -future 
life.  The  very  things  which  Gautama  had  denounced  as 
mere  shadows  and  illusions  were  set  forth  in  glorious  array 
to  allure  the  heart  of  man  and  thus  lead  him  to  Paradise. 
No  longer  was  salvation  a  mere  "escape"  from  the  present 
evils  of  existence,  but  rather  the  enjoyment  of  a  future  good. 
The  ideal  as  to  what  constitutes  true  enlightenment  also 
changed.  In  primitive  Buddhism,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
highest  ideal  was  that  of  the  Arhat,  one  who  seeks  enlighten- 
ment chiefly  for  himself  and  is  rather  indifferent  to  the  wel- 
fare of  other  beings.  But  in  such  Mahayana  scriptures  as 
the  Saddharma-Pundarika  the  ideal  of  the  Arhat  is  not 
onlv  augmented  bv  that  of  the  Bodhisattva  who  seeks 
salvation  also  for  others,  but  the  Arhat  ideal  is  actually 
condemned,  and  the  condemnation  is  put  into  the  mouth 
of  Gautama  himself.  Perhaps  this  difference  between  the 
Arhat  and  the  Bodhisattva  has  received  too  great  an  em- 


60  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

phasis  by  Mahayana  Buddhists,  for  it  is  not  quite  true  that 
the  Arhat  seeks  salvation  only  for  himself.  His  seeking 
salvation  for  himself  was  at  least  an  example  unto  others, 
and  to  that  extent  his  efforts  were  for  the  good  of  all.  It 
is  true,  however,  that  the  older  ideal  of  enlightenment 
implied  that  every  man  must  be  his  own  savior,  whereas 
in  Mahayana  Buddhism  the  Bodhisattva  through  his  own 
virtues  helped  save  others.  That  is,  his  own  merit  is  some- 
how transferred  to  others  who  put  their  trust  in  him.  This 
is  especially  true  of  the  Bodhisattva  Dharmakara  who 
finally  became  the  Buddha  Amitabha  to  whose  Western 
Paradise  go  all  those  who  in  simple  faith  call  upon  his 
great  name. 

This  change  of  ideal  as  to  what  constitutes  the  highest 
type  of  enlightenment  and  true  Buddhahood  also  implied  a 
radical  change  as  to  the  way  of  salvation.  Gautama  had 
taught  that  man  is  bound  by  the  Karma  chain  to  such  a 
degree  that  every  one  must  work  out  his  own  salvation 
through  a  long  process  of  self-discipline.  No  one  can  really 
help  another ;  not  even  the  gods,  for  if  there  are  gods  they 
too  are  subject  to  the  law  of  Karma  and  are  bound  to  the 
Wheel  of  Life  with  its  endless  revolutions.  But  in  certain 
books  of  Mahayana  Buddhism  man  is  not  left  to  his  own 
strength.  He  becomes  an  object  of  grace,  especially  the  grace 
of  the  great  Buddha  Amitabha  who  saves  by  his  might  all 
those  who  believe  in  him  and  call  upon  his  name.  Ami- 
tabha has  made  the  great  vow  to  help  all  who  desire  help. 
"In  obtaining  Buddhahood  I  shall  not  enter  into  perfect 
enlightenment  until  all  creatures  of  the  Ten  Regions  (Uni- 
verse) who  wish  sincerely  to  be  born  into  my  country  or 
who  practice  tenfold  meditations,  shall  have  been  born  there." 
"  My  mercy  towards  all  ye  heaven-  and  earth-born  creatures 
is  deeper  than  the  love  of  parents  towards  their  children." 
And  if  it  is  not  the  Buddha  Amitabha  who  saves  man  then 
it  is  Vairochana  or  some  other  great  Buddha.  In  the  Sad- 
dharma-Pundarika  we  read  these  almost  Christian  words: 
"  Now  are  the  Three  Worlds '  (the  phenomenal  world)  mine, 
and  all  beings  in  the  same  are  indeed  my  children.     But 


THE  RISE  OF  MAHAYANA  61 

great  and  many  are  their  afflictions,  and  it  is  I  alone  who 
can  save  them."  Thus  there  is  estabUshed  in  Mahayana 
Buddhism  the  great  principle  of  salvation  through  the 
strength  of  another;  and,  as  we  shall  see  later,  salvation 
through  a  vicarious  savior  and  through  faith  in  the  grace 
of  some  Buddha,  or  the  eternal  Buddha  —  all  of  which 
seems  radically  different  from  the  teachings  of  Gautama. 
A  final  great  change  which  we  must  mention  here  as 
coming  over  Buddhism  is  the  love  for  speculation  on  meta- 
physical problems.  We  said  in  the  preceding  chapter  that 
Gautama  considered  the  speculations  of  the  Brahmin  priests 
about  the  Brahman  as  an  idle  waste  of  time,  and  that  he 
rather  hesitated  to  express  himself  on  metaphysical  questions 
even  when  pressed  by  his  disciples,  but  put  such  problems 
in  his  list  of  the  Great  Indeterminates.  But  in  the  literature 
of  Mahayana  Buddhism  one  is  almost  nauseated  with  the 
barren  heights  of  speculations  in  which  the  authors  love  to 
indulge.  In  spite  of  the  protest  of  the  founder  against  such 
things,  his  religion  has  become  par  excellence  a  religion  which 
is  couched  in  a  metaphysical  mold.  Even  the  earlier 
Hinayana  books  contain  much  idle  speculation  on  the  prob- 
lems of  metaphysics,  and  to  that  extent  are  also  a  great 
change  from  what  seems  to  have  been  Gautama's  attitude 
towards  such  problems. 

Thus  while  the  common  ethical  teachings  as  contained 
in  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path,  the  Ten  Commandments  and 
the  elaboration  of  these  in  various  systems  of  Monk's 
Rules,  may  not  have  changed  so  seriously  as  the  years 
went  by,  the  great  fundamental  doctrines  of  religion  —  the 
God-idea,  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  the  conception  as  to 
the  real  nature  of  human  life,  and  the  way  of  salvation  — 
all  these  seem  to  have  undergone  rather  radical  changes. 
For  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  main  doctrines  of  Mahayana 
Buddhism,  especially  the  Japanese  form  of  it,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  succeeding  chapters  of  this  book,  especially 
Chapter  V. 

Now  the  question  which  we  asked  above  and  which  we 
now  shall  try  to  answer  very  briefly  is  as  to  what  were  the 


62  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

main  factors  which  brought  about  this  great  change  from 
primitive  Buddhism  to  Mahayana  Buddhism. 

Some  scholars  see  in  this  great  change  the  influence  of 
Western  thought,  particularly  Christian  thought.  It  is,  of 
course,  quite  possible  that  when  Buddhism  spread  into  the 
countries  northwest  of  India,  it  came  into  contact  with 
and  was  influenced  by  the  religions  of  the  West;  just  as 
it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  especially  such  heresies  in 
Christianity  as  the  Gnostic  heresy  were  in  part  at  least  the 
result  of  the  impact  of  Buddhism  upon  Christianity.  At 
any  rate,  it  seems  safe  to  assume  that  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  intercourse  between  the  East  and  the  West  after  the  time 
of  Alexander  the  Great,  if  not  before.  The  careful  his- 
torian will  be  slow  to  say  what  was  possible  and  what  not 
in  this  matter  of  intercourse  between  the  nations  in  ancient 
times. 

The  student  of  Indian  archaeology  is  finding  many  traces 
of  Western  influence ;  especially  is  this  true  of  northwestern 
India.  There  are  a  good  many  relics  of  pure  Greek  art 
dating  probably  from  the  first  and  second  centuries  B.C.; 
and  still  more  numerous  are  the  relics  which  show  a  blend- 
ing of  Greek  and  Indian  art.  Then,  further,  the  results 
of  recent  discoveries  in  the  lands  northwest  of  India  would 
go  to  show  that  the  great  religions  of  the  world  seem  to 
have  come  into  contact  with  one  another  on  their  march 
into  China.  Buddhism,  e.g.,  can  be  traced  in  Bactria  as 
early  as  the  second  century  B.C.  Zoroastrianism,  of  course, 
had  flourished  in  these  regions  for  many  years,  and  frag- 
ments of  Zoroastrian  scriptures  were  found  recently  in  Tur- 
kestan. The  Mithras  cult,  in  particular,  during  the  first 
and  second  century  a.d.,  would  seem  to  have  had  a  strong 
hold  not  only  on  the  Roman  Empire,  as  Cumont  has  shown, 
but  also  in  the  lands  east  of  its  origin.  Then  by  the  third 
century  a.d.  Manichseism  had  come  into  existence  and 
Mani  himself  visited  both  Turkestan  and  India.  The  Ger- 
man expedition  to  Turkestan  found  fragments  of  his  writings 
which  until  then  had  been  regarded  as  lost.  The  religion 
of  the  O.  T.  had  probably  made  itself  felt  in  those  lands 


THE  RISE  OF  MAHAYANA  63 

from  the  time  of  the  Babylonian  Captivity,  and  Christianity 
itself  most  likely  reached  these  lands  before  the  end  of  the 
first  century.  And  we  know  positively  that  by  the  first 
half  of  the  seventh  century  Nestorian  Christianity  was 
planted  in  the  midst  of  Buddhism  as  far  east  as  Sin-an-fu, 
China.  From  all  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  lands  north- 
west of  India  must  have  been  the  scene  of  the  mingling  of 
various  religious  streams,  and  it  seems  only  natural  that  no 
religion  could  pass  through  these  lands  without  undergoing 
some  modifications. 

But  after  all  this  has  been  taken  into  account,  we  are  still 
inclined  to  hold  that  the  great  change  from  primitive  Bud- 
dhism to  Mahaj^ana  Buddhism  was  brought  about  by  in- 
fluences nearer  home.  Not  that  we  would  deny  the  influence 
from  the  West,  but  that  the  chief  factor,  after  all,  was  Indian 
in  its  origin.  The  real  revenge  which  Hinduism  had  on 
Buddhism  was  not  that  it  ultimately  drove  it  out  of  India 
proper,  but  rather  that  it  forced  upon  Buddhism  step  by 
step  a  great  deal  of  its  own  philosophy  about  those  very 
things  against  which  Gautama  had  protested  so  much.  And, 
perhaps,  that  is  why  Buddhism  finally  died  out  in  India 
proper  —  it  had  ceased  to  justify  its  existence  since  it  became 
essentially  one  with  rejuvenated  Hinduism.  Nothing  is  more 
striking  than  the  similarities  between  the  Vedanta  phi- 
losophy and  the  speculations  of  Mahayana  Buddhism ;  the 
one  is  as  characteristically  metaphysical  in  its  mold  as  the 
other.  Perhaps  nothing  shows  the  influence  of  Hinduism  on 
Mahayana  Buddhism  more  clearly  than  the  Buddhist  cos- 
mology, with  its  realms  upon  realms  of  beings  ranging  all 
the  way  from  the  lowest  hell  to  the  highest  heaven,  prac- 
tically all  of  which  was  taken  bodily  from  Hinduism.  And 
what  is  still  more  striking  to  the  student  of  Chinese  Bud- 
dhism is  the  fact  that  the  Confucian  opponents  of  the  new 
religion  were  apparently  more  akin  (not  historically,  of 
course)  to  the  view  of  the  founder  of  Buddhism  than  was 
Chinese  Buddhism  itself;  for  especially  after  the  fourth 
century  a.d.  a  continual  stream  of  Indian  thought  poured 
into  China,  and  this  stream  brought  not  so  much  the  Bud- 


64  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

dhism  of  Gautama  as  the  wealth  and  rubbish  of  Hinduism 
which  gradually  swamped  the  purer  Buddhism. 

It  is  only  natural  that  Buddhism  gradually  took  on  much 
from  Hinduism  and  became  equally  speculative  as  a  system 
of  philosophy  and  all-inclusive  as  a  religion  of  the  masses. 
In  fighting  Hinduism  it  was  forced  to  use  the  weapons  of 
its  opponent  and  this  led  to  its  becoming  like  that  which  it 
opposed.  We  have  here  simply  another  case  of  what  hap- 
pened with  early  Christianity.  The  Apostle  Paul,  it  will  be 
remembered,  regarded  the  philosophies  of  his  day  as  vain 
speculations  and  some  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  looked 
askance  at  the  wisdom  of  the  Greeks  and  felt  that  in  the 
revelation  of  Christ  they  had  the  sum  total  of  all  that  was 
worth  knowing.  But  we  know  what  happened  with  the 
Ante-Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers  —  in  their  attempt  to 
meet  the  current  philosophies  they  cast  Christianity  itself 
into  a  metaphysical  mold  and  spent  much  time  and  energy 
on  those  very  things  which  earlier  Christians  had  denounced 
as  vain  philosophy.  And  this  we  say  is  what  happened  to 
the  religion  of  Gautama  in  its  opposition  to  Brahmin  specu- 
lations. It  gradually  took  on  those  very  things  which  at 
first  it  had  opposed. 

But  to  be  more  specific :  The  names  which  are  held  by 
Mahayana  Buddhists  in  special  esteem  are  those  of  Asva- 
ghosha,  Nagarjuna,  and  the  two  brothers  Asanga  and  Vasu- 
bandhu.  Practically  all  Chinese  and  Japanese  sects,  though 
they  trace  in  one  way  or  another  all  branches  of  Buddhism 
back  to  Gautama  as  the  ultimate  source,  nevertheless  look 
upon  Asvaghosha  as  the  specific  founder  of  Mahayana  Bud- 
dhism and  upon  Nagarjuna  as  playing  a  prominent  part  in 
founding  many  of  the  leading  sects.  Asanga  and  Vasu- 
bandhu  exercised  a  great  influence  in  Mahayana  Buddhism 
through  their  numerous  writings,  and  the  former  in  particu- 
lar seems  to  have  been  a  great  factor  in  furthering  that 
syncretistic  movement  through  which  Buddhism  was  enabled 
to  absorb  the  most  heterogeneous  elements. 

Who  were  these  men  and  when  and  where  did  they  live  ? 
The  answer  to  these  questions  is  largely  the  crux  of  the 


THE   RISE   OF   MAHAYANA  65 

whole  problem  as  to  the  real  sources  of  Mahayana  Bud- 
dhism ;  particularly  is  this  true  of  the  answer  to  the  question 
about  Asvaghosha. 

To  begin  with,  it  would  seem  that  there  were  several 
Asvaghoshas,  so  that  the  writings  which  appear  under  this 
name  may  have  been  the  products  of  different  minds  and 
written  at  different  times  and  places.  The  date  of  Asva- 
ghosha (or  the  dates  of  these  Asvaghoshas)  is  uncertain  be- 
cause the  date  of  the  Indo-Scythian  king  with  whom  tradi- 
tion connects  him  is  still  a  matter  of  dispute,  being  placed 
all  the  way  from  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  B.C.  to 
the  beginning  of  the  third  century  a.d.  Most  accounts, 
however,  agree  that  there  w^as  an  Asvaghosha  who  was  a 
Brahmin  by  birth  and  who  wandered  up  and  down  India 
seeking  for  knowledge  until  he  finally  settled  at  Benares, 
where  he  became  famous  as  a  great  scholar  and  clever 
reasoner.  He  was  a  light  in  Brahmanism  until  he  was  con- 
verted to  Buddhism,  and  as  a  Buddhist  monk  he  became 
known  far  and  wide  for  his  sanctity. 

It  was  during  his  life  as  a  Buddhist  monk  at  Benares, 
tradition  says,  that  the  Indo-Scythian  king  Kanishka  ap- 
peared before  the  walls  of  this  Buddhist  center ;  perhaps 
about  the  year  90  a.d.  The  king  agreed  to  spare  the  city 
if  it  would  turn  over  to  him  Gautama's  begging  bowl  and 
the  great  sage  Asvaghosha.  The  ruler  of  Benares,  it  is 
said,  was  loath  to  surrender  these  two  great  treasures  and 
was  bent  on  rather  sacrificing  the  city  than  these,  when 
the  sage  Asvaghosha  reproached  him  with  these  words, 
"The  teaching  of  Buddha  is  for  the  salvation  of  all  living 
beings  and  it  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  it  is  only  for  the 
benefit  of  one  country."  The  king  thereupon  complied  with 
the  demands  of  the  besieging  king,  and  Asvaghosha  was 
taken  to  the  north,  where  he  spent  his  life  in  spreading 
Buddhism.  By  northern  Buddhists  Kanishka  is  held  in 
high  honor  much  the  same  way  as  Asoka  is  by  southern 
Buddhists.  He,  too,  exerted  himself  for  the  extension  of 
the  religion  and  convened  the  fourth  (third  according  to 
northern  Buddhists)  great  council  of  Buddhism,  at  which 


66  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

it  is  claimed  the  religion  was  purified  and  the  canon  was 
more  clearly  defined. 

Asvaghosha's  "Life  of  Buddha"  (Buddha-Karita)  and 
especially  his  "Awakening  of  Faith"  (Kishinron)  have  ex- 
erted a  tremendous  influence  on  Northern  Buddhism,  and 
the  latter  writing  is  regarded  by  many  as  the  real  foundation 
of  Mahayana  Buddhism.  Now  we  said  that  practically  all 
traditions  agree  that  Asvaghosha  was  originally  a  Brahmin 
scholar  converted  later  to  Buddhism.  What  is  more  natural 
than  that  this  converted  Brahmin  scholar  should  bring  into 
Buddhism  a  great  deal  of  his  earlier  training  and  especially 
that  he  should  give  back  to  Buddhism  those  very  funda- 
mentals of  religion  which  the  heart  of  man  demands,  namely, 
the  belief  in  a  Supreme  Being  and  a  future  life  for  the  in- 
dividual ?  Not  that  Asvaghosha  brought  these  as  something 
new ;  for  it  would  seem  that  the  common  man  even  in  the 
Buddha's  day  had  never  given  up  his  faith  in  some  sort  of  a 
god  and  his  faith  in  a  future  life.  And  we  have  also  seen 
that  even  as  early  as  Asoka's  day  Gautama  was  being  raised 
to  the  place  of  a  god.  But  the  contribution  which  Asva- 
ghosha made  was  that  he  gave  these  great  beliefs  a  philo- 
sophical formulation  and  embodied  them  in  the  doctrines  of 
the  religion,  and  through  his  writings  he  handed  them 
down  to  succeeding  generations  as  the  orthodox  teachings  of 
Buddhism, 

Asvaghosha's  work  was  ably  supplemented  by  the  work  of 
that  second  great  saint  of  Mahayana  Buddhism,  Nagarjuna, 
who,  too,  was  a  Brahmin  converted  to  Buddhism.  He 
lived  probably  in  the  second  century  a.d.  and,  as  we  have 
said  above,  laid  the  foundations  for  a  number  of  the  leading 
sects  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  Buddhism.  Nagarjuna  was 
followed  by  Asanga  and  Vasubandhu,  who  lived  in  the  fifth 
century ;  and  these  two  scholars,  like  their  great  predecessors, 
were  steeped  in  the  thought  of  India  and  the  speculations 
of  Brahmanism.  It  is  only  natural  that  they  should  bring 
to  their  adopted  religion  much  from  the  religion  in  which 
they  had  been  trained.  They  added  to  the  ever  growing 
complexity  of  the  Mahayana  school  until  it  contained  in  its 


THE  RISE   OF  MAHAYANA  67 

capacious  womb  not  only  what  was  in  original  Buddhism, 
but  also  everything  which  the  founder  of  Buddhism  had 
opposed.  Especially  must  Asanga  be  regarded  as  the  master 
par  excellence  in  matters  of  religious  compromise.  Through 
his  influence  Mahayana  Buddhism,  which  was  already  rather 
all-inclusive,  assumed  more  and  more  that  compromising 
attitude  towards  other  religions  which  has  ever  since  been 
its  strength  and  weakness.  On  the  one  hand  it  enabled 
Buddhism  to  adapt  itself  to  any  local  condition  it  happened 
to  meet.  Not  only  were  the  leading  Sivaite  and  Vishnuite  ^ 
gods  of  India  admitted  to  the  Buddhist  Pantheon,  but  the 
gods  of  all  nations  found  ready  access,  for  it  was  simple  to 
regard  these  as  so  many  Buddhist  Bodhisattvas  or  as  the 
various  manifestations  of  the  Eternal  Buddha,  or  Buddhas. 
Asanga  did  not  stop  with  the  enrichment  of  the  Buddhist 
Pantheon,  he  is  also  credited  with  incorporating  into  the 
newer  Buddhism  a  great  deal  of  the  mystic  Tantric  doctrine 
from  the  prevalent  animism,  which  to  this  day  plays  a  leading 
part  in  the  Lamaism  of  Tibet  and  the  Shingon  sect  of  Japa- 
nese Buddhism.  This  latter  move  enabled  Buddhism  to 
make  proselytes  of  many  half  civilized  tribes  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  Four  Great  Truths  or  the  Noble  Eightfold 
Path,  The  weakness  of  this  compromising  attitude  lay 
in  the  fact  that  it  filled  the  Buddhist  household  with  all 
sorts  of  rubbish  which  is  utterly  unworthy  of  the  religion 
proclaimed  by  Gautama.  In  its  triumphant  march  across 
Asia  Buddhism  gathered  up  into  itself  everything  that  came  I 
into  its  way.  Victory  through  compromise  becomes  the  ' 
ruling  principle,  and  this  has  remained  the  chief  characteristic 
of  Mahayana  Buddhism  to  this  day  It  is  justified  by  the 
Buddhist  scholar  on  the  ground  that  truth  must  accommodate 
itself  to  the  varied  needs  of  humanity.  But  of  this  guiding 
principle  of  Mahayana  Buddhism  we  shall  speak  more  fully 
in  a  later  chapter. 

From  what  we  have  said,  then,  it  seems  rather  clear  that 
Mahayana  Buddhism  has  its  sources  primarily  in  Indian 
thought,  though  we  do  not  wish  to  deny  that  it  has  received 
some  influences  from  the  West.    The  point  we  wish  to  make 


68  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

is  that  there  is  Httle  in  the  fundamentals  of  Mahayana 
Buddhism  which  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  a  natural 
evolution  and  a  mingling  of  Buddhism  with  Brahmanism 
and  other  Indian  streams,  modified  further  by  the  native 
beliefs  and  practices  of  the  northern  peoples  among  whom 
Mahayana  Buddhism  had  its  fuller  development.  The 
student  of  comparative  religions  has  long  since  learned  that 
similarities  between  different  religions  does  not  necessarily 
prove  interdependence;  and  so  if  we  find  in  Mahayana 
Buddhism  much  which  reminds  one  of  Western  thought  and 
Christianity,  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  there  has  been 
a  historical  connection  or  that  one  has  borrowed  from  the 
other.  Our  medieval  missionaries  to  China,  Hue  and  Garbe, 
saw  in  the  striking  similarities  between  Catholicism  and 
Mahayana  Buddhism  a  clear  piece  of  the  devil's  work  who 
had  thus  made  a  cheap  counterfeit  of  Christianity  in  order 
to  deceive  the  very  elect.  We  smile  at  this  theory  to-day 
but  it  is  not  much  more  absurd  than  the  theory  of  some  of 
our  modern  students  who  see  in  all  parallelisms  of  religions 
a  necessary  historical  connection  and  interdependence. 

There  is,  however,  one  great  point  in  Mahayana  Buddhism 
which  seems  to  be  more  than  a  mere  parallelism  and  which 
bears  on  the  face  of  it  traces  of  influence  other  than  Indian. 
We  refer  to  the  doctrine  of  salvation  through  the  strength 
and  grace  of  another.  In  India  the  doctrine  of  Karma  was 
all  but  universal,  and  this  doctrine,  as  we  saw  in  the  last 
chapter,  was  the  causal-nexus  principle  applied  with  rigor 
to  the  psychic  life  of  the  individual.  Man  is  what  his 
thoughts  and  deeds  of  the  past  have  made  him,  and  his 
future  is  conditioned  by  the  present.  "Whatsoever  a  man 
soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap,"  and  no  one  can  sow  or  reap 
for  another  —  either  good  or  bad.  This  is  the  doctrine  of 
early  Buddhism  as  well  as  that  of  all  other  Indian  systems  of 
thought.  The  first  glimpse,  it  would  seem,  which  we  get 
in  Buddhism  of  the  opposite  great  principle,  namely,  the 
principle  which  recognizes  the  fact  that  one  life  can  help 
another  and  that  one  can  be  saved  through  the  strength  of 
another,  is  the  story  in  one  of  the  three  Paradise  sutras 


THE  RISE  OF  MAHAYANA  69 

(Amitayur-Dhyana-sutra)  about  the  Buddha's  conversation 
with  Vaidehi,  the  queen  of  Bimbisara.  The  story  is  in  sub- 
stance as  follows : 

The  queen  had  suffered  hardships  at  the  hand  of  her  own 
son,  and  in  her  distress  she  turned  to  the  Buddha  for  con- 
solation. She  asked  him  why  it  was  that  she  must  suffer 
such  things  at  the  hands  of  her  son.  The  Buddha  replied 
in  the  manner  consonant  with  the  Indian  doctrine  of  Karma, 
namely,  that  the  queen  was  simply  suffering  for  her  own  sins 
—  sins  committed  either  in  her  present  life  or  in  some  pre- 
vious existence.  Then  in  her  despair  the  queen  cried  out 
and  said,  "Is  there  no  escape  from  this  dreadful  chain  of 
Karma?  "  "Not  in  India,"  replied  the  Buddha,  "but  there 
is  a  Western  Buddha  Field  where  one  does  not  have  to  atone 
for  all  one's  sins."  Whether  this  is  a  true  story  or  not, 
it  remains  true  that  it  is  an  old  story  and  that  the  doctrine 
of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  was  known  rather  early  in  Bud- 
dhism, but  known  as  belonging  to  the  Western  Buddha 
Field. 

If  the  Buddha  himself  uttered  these  words  it  is  possible, 
as  Professor  Lloyd  has  suggested,  that  he  knew  something 
about  the  religion  of  the  O.  T.  through  the  prophets  of  the 
Exile.  If  it  is  a  later  story,  then  it  is  possible  that  this 
doctrine  entered  Buddhism  after  the  conquest  of  Alexander 
the  Great.  And  if  we  put  it  as  late  as  the  first  century  a.d. 
(for  w^hich  there  is  good  reason),  then  it  may  be  connected 
with  Christian  influences.  If  it  is  neither  Jewish  nor  Chris- 
tian in  origin  there  still  remains  the  possibility  of  its  coming 
from  the  near  West,  namely  from  Persia,  particularly  from 
the  Mithras  cult.  We  realize,  of  course,  that  the  doctrine 
of  salvation  by  divine  grace  is  found  also  in  the  popular 
Vishnu  and  Siva  schools  of  Hinduism,  but  whether  it  was  in 
these  before  it  entered  Buddhism,  and  if  so,  whether  it  was 
Indian  in  origin,  remains  still  a  problem. 

Whatever  were  the  origins  of  this  doctrine  of  divine  grace, 
it  would  seem  safe  to  say  that  it  did  not  reach  any  degree  of 
real  vitality  in  Buddhism  until  after  the  formation  of  the 
great  Pure  Land  sects  in  China  and  Japan  which  make  this  J 


70  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

their  central  teaching,  proclaiming  as  they  do  the  possibility 
of  salvation  for  all  sinners  who  rely  upon  the  strength  of 
Amitabha.  But  these  sects  regard  as  their  greatest  teacher 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Shan-tao  (Japanese,  Zendo)  whom  we 
know  to  have  been  contemporary  with  the  Nestorian  mis- 
sionaries of  the  seventh  century  at  Sin-an-fu,  China.  Thus 
it  would  seem  that  if  this  doctrine  did  not  come  originally 
from  Christianity,  it  was  strengthened  by  the  influences 
of  Nestorian  Christianity  and  made  a  real  live  doctrine  in 
Mahayana  Buddhism.  We  shall  speak  of  this  again  in  a 
later  chapter. 

C.    The  Spread  of  Buddhism  through  China 

Eitel  claims  that  Buddhist  missionaries  accompanied  the 
caravans  of  traders  into  China  as  early  as  the  days  of  King 
Asoka,  i.e.  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century  B.C.  Others 
claim  that  the  first  century  B.C.  saw  the  first  Buddhist 
efforts  in  that  land,  but  even  that  seems  quite  doubtful. 
It  is,  however,  safe  to  say  that  Buddhism  did  reach  China 
during  the  first  century  a.d.  We  are  told  that  in  the  year 
61  A.D.  the  Emperor  Ming-ti  had  a  dream.  Several  nights 
in  succession  he  had  a  vision  of  a  man  standing  before  him 
in  golden  raiment,  holding  in  his  hands  a  bow  and  arrows 
and  pointing  to  the  West.  The  emperor  was  much  moved 
by  the  vision,  and  so  sent  eighteen  men  to  the  West  to  seek 
for  the  True  Man  whom  he  had  seen  in  his  dream.  The 
messengers,  we  are  told,  got  as  far  as  the  land  of  the  Getse 
bordering  on  India  when  they  met  two  monks  coming 
through  the  mountain  pass,  leading  a  white  horse  laden  with 
scriptures  and  images.  The  messengers  returned  to  the 
court  with  these  two  monks,  where  the  strangers  were  well 
received  and  given  lodgment  in  a  monastery  which  exists 
to  this  day,  namely,  the  celebrated  Pomash,  White  Horse 
Monastery.  The  two  monks  died  a  few  years  later  and  the 
only  memorial  they  left  behind,  it  would  seem,  was  the 
famous  scripture  of  the  Forty-Two  Sections,  which  has  re- 
mained to  this  day  one  of  the  most  popular  writings  of 
Chinese  and  Japanese  Buddhism. 


BUDDHISM  IN  CHINA  71 

There  are  scholars  who  have  suggested  that  these  two 
monks  were  not  Buddhists  at  all,  but  Christians,  namely, 
disciples  of  St.  Thomas  in  India  or  from  the  lands  north 
of  India  and  west  of  China.  The  legend  that  St.  Thomas 
reached  India  is  not  altogether  without  foundation;  and 
further  is  it  true  that  the  Jews  of  the  Diaspora  seem  to  have 
had  as  their  easternmost  settlement  a  colony  at  Kaifong-fu 
in  Honan,  China,  at  this  time.  (This  colony  of  Jews  has 
survived  to  our  day  and  is  only  now  disappearing.)  Thus 
it  was  quite  possible  that  the  Emperor  Ming-ti  should  have 
known  something  about  the  True  Man  who  had  appeared  in 
Palestine.  But,  of  course,  the  mere  possibility  of  such  an 
acquaintance  is  a  very  slender  thread  on  which  to  hang  | 
any  claim  that  Christianity  reached  China  as  early  as  the 
seventh  decade  of  the  Christian  era.  And  the  further  claim 
that  the  sutra  of  the  Forty-Two  Sections  has  Christian  ^ 
elements  is  equally  weak,  as  all  advanced  religions  have  a  ) 
great  many  things  in  common,  so  that  similarity,  as  we 
SQAd  before,  does  not  prove  dependence. 

Whatever  these  monks  were,  their  influence  seems  to  have 
been  very  little  as  far  as  establishing  either  Buddhism  or 
Christianity  in  China.  Between  a.d.  76-88  a  number  of 
Buddhist  books  were  brought  into  China  from  Turkestan, 
but  their  influence  is  also  very  difficult  to  trace.  Not  until 
147  A.D.  did  Buddhism  make  a  real  beginning  in  that  land. 
The  Buddhism  which  won  China  at  first  did  not  come 
directly  from  India  proper,  but  largely  from  the  new  home  ; 
of  Buddhism  among  the  Scythians  and  Parthians.  (After 
the  fourth  century  the  connection  between  India  and  China 
seems  to  have  been  more  direct,  Indians  coming  to  China 
in  great  numbers  and  Chinese  pilgrims  visiting  the  birth- 
place of  their  new  religion.)  Asvaghosha  and  Nagarjuna 
had  already  done  their  great  work  in  giving  Buddhism  a 
new  turn.  And  their  work  had  been  advanced  by  others, 
so  that  ideas  which  they  held  only  in  germ  had  reached 
full  fruition.  For  example,  as  we  saw  above,  these  two  great 
scholars  seemed  to  have  faith  in  a  Supreme  Being  whom 
they  knew  as  Amitabha,  but  they  knew  him,  as  it  were, 


72  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

only  from  afar.  On  the  other  hand,  the  great  missionaries 
to  the  Chinese,  Anshikao  (Prince  of  the  Parthians),  who  gave 
up  his  royal  position  to  become  a  Buddhist  missionary,  and 
Lokaraksha,  were  devout  preachers  of  this  great  doctrine  of 
Mahayana  Buddhism.  And  it  was  they  who  seem  to  have 
brought  the  chief  scripture  of  the  Amitabha  faith,  namely, 
the  Larger  Sukhavati-Vyuha,  to  China  in  147  a.d. 

The  progress  of  Buddhism  in  China  was  not  very  rapid  at 
first.  The  first  century  and  a  half  or  more  was  a  period 
of  importation  and  translation  of  scriptures.  In  fact,  China 
seems  to  have  been  flooded  with  books ;  so  that  the  Em- 
peror Hweiti  in  306  a.d.,  wishing  to  free  himself  of  this  foreign 
importation,  ordered  a  great  many  books  to  be  burned, 
and  for  many  years  the  Chinese  were  forbidden  by  imperial 
edict  to  become  Buddhist  monks.  But  after  335  a.d. 
matters  took  a  turn  for  the  better.  The  people  were  allowed 
to  take  monastic  vows,  and  many  began  to  give  the  new 
religion  serious  attention.  The  thing  that,  perhaps,  more 
than  any  other  won  the  Chinese  to  Buddhism  was  the  latter's 
attitude  towards  the  deep-rooted  ancestor  worship.  Bud- 
dhism did  not  openly  antagonize  ancestor  worship ;  in  fact, 
it  enriched  it  by  a  distinct  contribution,  for  it  offered  the 
Chinese  a  way  of  raising  the  dead  to  the  exalted  position  of 
Buddhas.  Ancestors  should  not  only  be  revered,  but  they 
should  be  worshipped  as  Buddhas.  Then  of  course  Bud- 
dhism also  satisfied  the  religious  longings  better  than  Con- 
fucianism was  doing.  Especially  did  the  Amitabha  faith 
meet  a  great  need  in  a  land  where  religion  was  entirely  too 
much  a  matter  of  mere  human  relationships.  Buddhism 
went,  of  course,  to  the  other  extreme ;  but  even  so  it  filled 
a  great  need  in  the  heart  of  the  Chinese  people,  and  from 
the  fourth  century  on  became  very  popular. 

Naturally  when  Buddhism  began  to  be  really  rooted  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people  they  became  interested  in  the  origins 
of  their  adopted  religion  and  in  the  home  of  its  founder. 
Many  began  to  turn  their  steps  towards  India.  The  first 
of  these  of  whom  any  record  is  left  was  the  celebrated  Fah- 
hian  who  started  for  India  in  399  a.d.  and  returned  in  the 


BUDDHISM   IN  CHINA  73 

year  414  a.d.  From  his  writings  we  get  the  best  picture 
we  have  of  India  for  that  period.  He  found  Buddhism 
in  a  flourishing  condition  in  the  countries  northwest  of 
India,  but  when  he  reached  the  cradle  of  Buddhism  he 
found  things  in  a  state  of  decay.  The  historical  Buddha 
and  the  scenes  of  his  activity  seem  to  have  been  lost  sight  of ; 
and  Buddhists  were  no  longer  concerned  with  him  as  a  man, 
but  only  with  the  deified  Buddha.  Fah-hian's  studies  on 
the  field  of  Buddhism's  beginnings  soon  showed  him  that  the 
Buddhism  which  had  been  introduced  into  China  differed 
rather  widely  from  the  Buddhism  of  India  proper.  This 
would  indicate  that  by  this  time,  i.e.  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fifth  century  a.d.,  the  main  features  of  Mahayana  Bud- 
dhism had  been  developed  and  that  the  seat  of  its  development 
was  not  in  India  proper,  but  rather  in  the  regions  lying  north 
and  northwest  of  India ;  though,  as  we  have  said  above, 
Indian  elements  were  the  predominant  ones  in  this  develop- 
ment. 

Under  the  Ts'in  dynasty  in  401  a.d.  Kumarajiva  was 
brought  from  Tibet  as  a  prisoner  to  Sin-an-fu,  China.  His 
great  work  was  the  translation  of  numerous  books  —  many 
of  them  of  purely  Indian  origin.  From  these  translations 
and  studies  it  became  increasingly  evident  that  the  Bud- 
dhism imported  into  China  by  the  great  Anshikao  and  Lo- 
karaksha  in  147  a.d.  was  not  the  pure  Buddhism  of  the 
founder.  This  discovery  gave  rise  to  great  discussions  and 
divisions  in  the  ranks  of  Buddhism  and  thus  weakened  the 
new  religion  in  its  conflict  with  Confucianism  and  Tao- 
ism. But  these  discussions  and  divisions,  in  the  long  run, 
led  to  further  developments  of  the  new  religion  and  to  the 
formation  of  some  of  the  great  sects  which  later  were  trans- 
planted to  Japan,  where  they  are  active  to  this  day. 

It  is  from  this  time  on  that  Chinese  Buddhism  began 
to  take  up  many  of  the  elements  of  Confucianism,  Taoism  \ 
and  the  minor  local  cults.  From  Confucianism  Buddhism 
adopted  much  which  made  its  ethical  teachings  more  practical 
and  suited  to  the  tastes  of  the  Chinese.  And  from  Taoism 
it  gathered  on  the  one  hand  some  of  its  philosophical  for- 


74  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

mulse  to  express  its  own  concepts,  converting  e.g.  the  Law 
of  the  Buddha  into  the  Laws  or  Way  of  the  Universe,  i.e. 
the  Tao,  or  Way,  of  Taoism.  On  the  other  hand,  Buddhism 
also  took  up  many  of  the  superstitions  of  Taoism  and  local 
cults  as  held  by  the  ignorant  masses.  And,  as  we  have 
said  above,  from  this  time  on  the  connection  with  India  and 
the  countries  south  of  China  became  close,  so  that  all  the 
wealth  and  rubbish  of  these  countries  kept  pouring  into  China 
and  helped  swell  the  ever  growing  stream  of  Mahayana 
Buddhism. 

The  growing  popularity  of  Buddhism  in  China  during 
the  fifth  century  led  to  a  bitter  religious  controversy  with 
the  Confucianists  and  Literati,  so  that  finally  the  king  of 
the  Wei  dynasty  in  the  north  was  induced  to  issue  an  edict 
calling  for  the  destruction  of  Buddhist  books  and  images. 
But  by  451  a.d.  a  king  of  the  same  dynasty  authorized  the 
establishment  of  one  Buddhist  temple  in  every  city  of  his 
dominion  and  forty  to  fifty  inhabitants  of  each  place  were 
permitted  to  become  monks  or  priests.  This  friendliness  on 
the  part  of  the  rulers  made  China  a  safe  place  of  refuge  for 
the  Buddhists  of  India,  who  were  being  persecuted  by  their 
Brahmin  rivals.  Thus  one  account  has  it  that  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixth  century  the  number  of  Indian  refuges  in 
China  was  more  than  6000.  This  in  turn  helped  raise  the 
prestige  of  Buddhism,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  statistics 
of  that  period,  which  give  the  number  of  Buddhist  temples 
as  upward  of  13,000. 

Of  all  the  Buddhists  who  came  to  China  from  India  during 
this  period  there  is  none  whose  coming  was  of  such  signif- 
icance for  Chinese  Buddhism  as  that  of  Bodhidharma,  the 
founder  of  the  Contemplative  school  of  Buddhism  in  China. 
Bodhidharma  was  the  twenty-eighth  patriarch  of  the  Dhyani 
school  in  India,  claiming  to  be  in  real  apostolic  succession 
from  Gautama  down ;  and  with  him  we  may  say  the  center 
of  this  type  of  Buddhism  is  shifted  from  India  to  China. 
Whatever  may  be  said  about  the  apostolic  succession  claim 
which  this  school  makes,  it  is  certainly  true  that  even  to 
this  day  it  is  in  many  respects  nearer  the  original  Buddhism 


BUDDHISM  IN  CHINA  75 

than  other  Chinese  or  Japanese  sects ;  especially  is  it  nearer 
than  the  sects  which  make  Amitabha  the  center  of  their 
faith.  Bodhidharma  was  a  remarkable  man  and  left  his 
impress  on  a  great  section  of  northern  Buddhism.  The 
Zen  sect  in  Japan,  of  which  we  shall  speak  in  succeeding 
chapters,  is  to  this  day  one  of  the  most  vital  forces  in  Jap- 
anese Buddhism  and  looks  to  him  as  its  real  founder.  The 
following  interview  with  the  Chinese  Emperor  Liang  Wuti, 
taken  from  Edkin's  "Chinese  Buddhism,"  illustrates  what 
was  the  temper  of  the  man  and  the  characteristics  of  his 
true  followers : 

When  Bodhidharma  lived  at  Nanking  the  emperor  came 
to  him  one  day  and  said,  "From  my  accession  to  the  throne, 
I  have  been  incessantly  building  temples,  transcribing  sacred 
books,  and  admitting  new  monks  to  take  the  vows.  How 
much  merit  may  I  be  supposed  to  have  accumulated  ?" 
The  reply  was,  "None."  The  emperor:  "And  why  no 
merit?  "  The  patriarch:  "All  this  is  but  the  insignificant 
effect  of  an  imperfect  cause  not  complete  in  itself.  It  is  the 
shadow  that  follows  the  substance,  and  is  without  real 
existence."  The  emperor:  "Then  what  is  true  merit?" 
The  patriarch :  "  It  consists  in  purity  and  enlightenment, 
depth  and  completeness,  and  in  being  wrapped  in  thought 
while  surrounded  by  vacancy  and  stillness.  Merit  such  as 
this  cannot  be  sought  by  worldly  means."  The  emperor : 
''^Yhich  is  the  most  important  of  the  holy  doctrines?" 
The  patriarch :  "  Where  all  is  emptiness,  nothing  can  be 
called  'holy'  (sheng)."  The  emperor  :  "Who  is  he  that  thus 
replies  to  me  ?  "  The  patriarch  :  "  I  do  not  know." 
j!^Some  time  after  this  interview  the  emperor  became  a  Bud- 
dhist monk,  much  to  the  disgust  of  the  Confucianists. 
>V"  According  to  the  "History  of  the  Wei  Dynasty,"  says 
Edkins,  the  number  of  Buddhist  monks  and  priests  about 
this  time  reached  2,000,000  and  the  number  of  temples  was 
30,000.  This  seems  to  be  an  exaggeration,  but  it  shows 
that  Buddhism  was  exceedingly  popular.  The  statistics 
given  in  connection  with  the  accounts  of  the  great  persecu- 
tions of  Buddhists  during  the  eighth,  ninth  and  tenth  cen- 


76  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

turies  show  that  Buddhism  kept  increasing  at  the  expense  of 
its  rivals.  In  714  a.d.,  e.g.,  we  are  told  that  12,000  monks 
and  nuns  were  compelled  to  return  to  secular  life,  and  the 
edict  against  Buddhists  issued  by  Emperor  Wu-tsung  in 
845  A.D.  is  said  to  have  led  to  the  destruction  of  4,600 
monasteries  and  40,000  smaller  edifices,  and  more  than 
260,000  monks  and  nuns  were  compelled  to  return  to  common 
employments,  the  temple  property  being  confiscated  and  the 
copper  of  images  and  bells  being  converted  into  coins. 
Again  in  the  first  half  of  the  tenth  century  we  hear  of  per- 
secutions which  closed  30,000  temples.  But  none  of  these 
and  similar  oppressions,  many  of  which  were  purely  local, 
sufficed  to  check  Buddhism  in  China ;  for,  after  all,  it  satis- 
fied the  spiritual  needs  of  the  people  better  than  Confu- 
cianism and  Taoism  could  do,  and  so  the  Buddhists,  though 
frequently  oppressed  and  persecuted,  always  found  their  way 
back  to  favor  and  prosperity. 

We  may  say,  however,  that  in  these  oppressions  and  per- 
secutions we  have  an  indication  of  China's  chief  objection  to 
the  religion  of  the  Buddha.  We  said  above  that  Buddhism 
did  not  openly  antagonize  ancestor  worship  and  that  it  even 
enriched  it  by  converting  ancestors  into  Buddhas  who  are 
truly  worthy  to  be  revered  and  worshiped.  But,  after 
all,  the  highest  life-ideal  to  the  Buddhist  is  that  of  the  monk 
or  nun  who  withdraws  from  active  life  and  so  becomes  an 
economic  loss,  and  by  their  vows  of  celibacy  they  cut  the  very 
\  nerve  of  ancestor  worship.  The  Chinese  are  too  practical 
and  matter-of-fact  people  to  accept  the  monk  and  the  nun 
as  the  highest  type  of  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  espe- 
cially too  deeply  devoted  to  the  ancestor  cult  to  accept 
Buddhism  without  serious  questions ;  for  the  sin  above  all 
other  sins  in  the  eyes  of  a  faithful  son  of  China  is  the  sin 
of  having  no  children.  Ancestor  worship  demands  an  un- 
broken line  of  descendants,  and  if  there  are  no  children  by 
legal  marriage  "either  adoption  of  a  son  or  polygamy  be- 
comes an  ethical  necessity."  And  so  however  much  Bud- 
dhism may  flatter  the  Chinese  by  converting  ancestors  into 
Buddhas  or  however  much  it  may  satisfy  other  religious 


BUDDHISM  IN  CHINA  77 

needs,  this  ideal  of  celibacy  and  the  lack  of  emphasis  upon 
the  practical  problems  of  life  are  contrary  to  the  most  deep- 
rooted  characteristics  of  Chinese  life  and  customs. 

From  China  as  a  center  Buddhism  spread  in  several  direc- 
tions, mainly,  however,  in  its  Mahayana  form.  During  the 
seventh  century  it  reached  Tibet  and  there  developed  into 
what  is  now  known  as  Lamaism.  Lamaism,  during  the  time 
of  the  great  Mongolian  conqueror,  Kublai  Khan,  became  the 
religion  of  Mongolia  and  also  flowed  back  again  into  China 
proper,  thus  adding  one  more  current  to  the  ever  swelling 
stream  of  Northern  Buddhism.  Before  this,  however, 
namely,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  century,  Bud- 
dhism had  reached  Korea.  At  this  time,  there  was  really  no 
Korea  as  we  know  it  at  present,  but  it  was  divided  into  the 
three  small  independent  kingdoms  of  Koma  (Ko-gur-yu), 
Kudara  (Pakche),  and  Shiragi  (Silla),  with  some  small 
buffer  states  between  the  latter  two.  In  372  a.d.  a  priest 
from  Sin-an-fu,  China,  reached  Koma.  An  Indian  priest, 
Ma^ananda  by  name,  came  to  Kudara  from  eastern  China 
in  384  A.D.  And  Shiragi  received  its  first  Buddhist  mis- 
sionary from  Koma  in  424  a.d.  We  know  very  little  of  the 
nature  of  Korean  Buddhism  of  this  early  day.  It  would 
seem,  however,  that  the  new  religion  early  won  its  way 
among  the  upper  classes  and  enjoyed  the  protection  of  the 
royal  families ;  for  it  was  the  king  of  Kudara,  King  Seimei, 
who  in  the  year  552  a.d.  sent  Buddhism  across  the  narrow 
channel  which  separates  Korea  from  Japan  when  he  sent  his 
Buddhist  mission  to  the  emperor  of  Japan. 

With  these  few  scattering  remarks  we  must  leave  Chinese 
Buddhism.  The  point  we  are  to  remember,  however,  is 
that  Chinese  Buddhism  from  the  very  beginning  differed 
rather  widely  from  the  religion  of  Gautama,  and  that  during 
its  long  history  in  that  country  and  in  its  conflict  with  Con- 
fucianism, Taoism  and  minor  local  cults,  and  later  through 
the  direct  influx  of  Indian  thought  into  China,  Buddhism 
took  up  more  and  more  elements  which  were  radically 
different  from  primitive  Buddhism.  In  short,  in  China 
Buddhism    became  a  conglomerate  system  of   beliefs  and 


78  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

practices  which  makes  it  practically  impossible  to  say  just 
what  Chinese  Buddhism  is.  We  shall  say  more  on  this 
point  when  we  come  to  an  exposition  of  Japanese  Bud- 
dhism in  our  next  chapters,  for  in  many  respects  Chinese 
Buddhism  is  better  preserved  in  Japanese  Buddhism  than 
in  the  existing  Chinese  sects  ^  themselves. 


CHAPTER  III 
Developments  of  Buddhism  in  Japan 

A.    Introduction  of  Buddhism  into  Japan 

In  the  last  chapter  we  tried  to  show  briefly  the  development 
of  primitive  Buddhism  into  Mahayana  Buddhism.  We  saw 
that  Buddhism  in  its  spread  from  India  northward  and  in 
its  triumphant  march  across  China  and  Korea  underwent 
some  radical  changes,  not  only  in  minor  points,  but  in  the 
very  fundamentals  of  religion.  And  thus  when  Buddhism 
reached  Japan  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  a.d.  it  was 
no  longer  the  pure  religion  of  the  founder.  It  was  not  the 
Buddhism  of  the  Pali  scriptures  and  the  religion  which 
western  scholars  usually  describe  when  they  speak  of  Bud- 
dhism, but  it  was  that  expanded  and  much  modified  religion 
which  we  know  as  Mahayana  Buddhism.  A  part  of  the 
original  Indian  stream  and  a  great  many  later  streams  from 
Hinduism  reached  Japan  through  China;  so  that  Japanese 
Buddhism  does  go  back  to  India,  but  the  stream  had  been 
enlarged  by  many  tributaries  from  the  local  cults  and  reli- 
gions of  other  countries,  and  these  were  so  well  mingled  with 
one  another  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  just  what  was  Bud- 
dhist and  what  was  not. 

Now  in  this  chapter  we  shall  trace  the  flow  of  this  great 

stream  of  many  waters  across  Japanese  life  and  we  shall  see 

as  we  go  on  that  in  Japan,  too,  it  was  fed  by  other  streams  — 

principally  by  that  mighty  current  of  the  native  Shinto 

which  modified  Buddhism  so  seriously  after  its  union  with 

it  in  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century  that  the  resultant 

stream  was  known  for  many  centuries  as  Ryobu-Shinto, 

Two-sided  Shinto. 

79 


80  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

As  we  saw  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter,  Buddhism 
reached  Korea  from  China  during  the  last  half  of  the  fourth 
century  a.d.  and  from  Korea  it  crossed  the  narrow  channel 
which  separates  the  peninsula  from  the  island  empire  of 
Japan.  Japan  and  Korea  had  known  each  other  for  many 
years.  The  Japanese  claim  that  as  early  as  32  B.C.  the  little 
province  of  Mimana  or  Kara  sought  the  protection  of  Japan 
against  the  oppressions  of  the  kingdom  of  Shiragi,  and  for 
several  centuries  it  remained  a  sort  of  dependency  of  the 
emperor  of  Japan.  Then  in  the  year  202  a.d.  the  great 
Japanese  heroine,  Empress  Jingo,  made  her  famous  ex- 
pedition to  Korea  and  apparently  reduced  the  kingdom  of 
Shiragi  to  a  dependency  of  Japan.  Empress  Jingo's  son 
and  successor,  Ojin  Tenno,  deified  later  as  the  God  of  War, 
is  supposed  to  have  continued  the  suzerainty  over  southern 
Korea,  and  during  his  reign  there  was  probably  a  real  vital 
connection  between  the  two  countries.  This  is  a  point  on 
which  some  of  our  modern  imperialistic  Japanese  love  to 
dwell,  and  in  connection  with  the  annexation  of  Korea  it 
was  used  as  an  argument  by  some  to  justify  Japan  in  taking 
the  step. 

Japan's  hold  on  Korea  was,  however,  never  very  firm,  and, 
as  we  have  said,  by  the  time  Buddhism  reached  Korea  in 
the  fourth  century  the  peninsula  was  occupied  by  three 
small  independent  kingdoms.  And  this  was  also  the  polit- 
ical situation  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  when, 
in  552^  A.D.,  King  Seimei  of  Kudara  sent  a  gold  and  copper 
image  of  Buddha  (probably  an  image  of  the  Buddha  Amitabha 
and  not  of  Gautama),  Buddhist  books,  and  a  letter  in  which 
he  praised  the  great  merit  of  Buddhism  to  the  emperor  of 
Japan.  As  a  matter  of  fact  this  was  but  one  of  many  missions 
sent  by  this  king.  It  would  seem  that  the  three  Korean  king- 
doms were  always  more  or  less  at  war  with  one  another,  and 
it  is  quite  likely  that  the  king  of  Kudara  was  moved  by  po- 
litical considerations  rather  than  religious  when  he  recom- 
mended his  religion  to  the  Japanese  court.  To  gain  the 
friendship  of  this  island  empire  would  be  a  real  advantage 
in  his  conflicts  with  his  rivals ;  and  all  the  more  did  this  seem 


INTRODUCTION  INTO  JAPAN  81 

necessary,  for  the  Chinese  monarch  was  showing  himself  quite 
unfriendly  to  Buddhism  at  this  time  and  in  consequence 
not  over-friendly  to  the  Buddhist  king  of  Kudara.  Whatever 
were  the  motives  that  lay  back  of  this  official  Buddhist 
mission  from  Kudara,  we  know  that  it  was  sent  and  that  it 
met  with  success. 

It  is  an  interesting  story  how  these  Buddhist  beginnings 
were  received.  The  emperor  of  Japan  was  apparently 
greatly  pleased  with  these  gifts,  for  it  must  be  remembered 
that  images  and  books  were  exceedingly  rare  among  the  simple 
Japanese  of  that  early  day.  He  said  to  the  messengers,  "I 
have  never  heard  such  sublime  teachings,  yet  I  myself  dare 
not  decide  whether  to  accept  this  doctrine  or  not."  The 
matter  was  submitted  to  the  counsel  of  his  vassals  and  one 
Soga  no  Iname  replied,  "Western  countries  all  believe  this 
doctrine  and  why  should  not  we  ?  "  But  two  other  ministers 
of  a  more  conservative  disposition  said  in  substance,  "  We 
have  our  own  gods,  and  if  we  now  change  and  worship  the 
gods  of  other  nations  we  are  in  danger  of  bringing  the  wrath 
of  our  gods  upon  our  heads."  The  image  was  turned  over 
to  Soga  with  the  instruction  that  he  was  to  worship  the  new 
god  and  give  the  new  religion  a  test ;  for  like  the  Athenians 
of  old  the  Japanese  did  not  dare  run  the  risk  of  leaving  any 
god  without  an  altar  even  though  they  already  had  myriads 
of  their  own.  Soga  accordingly  converted  his  own  house 
into  a  temple,  set  up  the  new  image  and  began  the  new  cult. 

But  soon  after  this  introduction  of  the  new  god  a  terrible 
pestilence  afflicted  the  land  and  the  conservative  party  were 
not  slow  in  discovering  in  this  the  wrath  of  their  native  gods. 
Soga's  temple  was  burned  to  the  ground,  and  the  Buddhist 
image  was  thrown  into  a  canal  of  Naniwa  (Osaka).  The 
Buddhist  god  was,  however,  to  get  his  innings  and  show 
what  he  could  do.  A  great  conflagration  suddenly  destroyed 
the  great  hall  of  the  Imperial  residence,  and,  of  course,  this 
could  have  but  one  meaning.  Furthermore  the  pestilence 
seems  to  have  only  increased  in  violence  and  threatened  to 
extinguish  the  nation.  Some  claim  that  the  image  was 
therefore  speedily  fished  up  from  the  sea  and  reverently 

G 


82  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

placed  in  a  new  house  of  worship.  At  any  rate  it  seems 
true  that,  under  the  leadership  of  Soga  Mumako,  son  of  Soga 
no  Iname,  Buddhism  began  to  take  root  in  Japan, 

Thus  we  see  how  trifling  and  chance  occurrences  may 
play  a  great  part  in  momentous  issues.  Not  that  these  were 
the  only  or  even  the  main  determining  factors,  for  in  the  long 
run  the  success  of  Buddhism  in  Japan  was  due  to  its  real 
superiority  over  the  native  Shinto  faith. 

Before  we  proceed  with  a  narrative  of  the  development  of 
Buddhism  in  Japan  from  these  small  beginnings,  it  may  be 
well  to  pause  a  moment  and  give  very  briefly  what  the  native 
Shintd  was  and  what  were  the  conditions  of  Japan  in  general 
at  this  time ;  for  the  successful  entrance  of  a  religion  into  a 
country  depends  more  or  less  upon  the  religious,  social, 
political  and  intellectual  condition  of  the  people  to  be  won  to 
the  new  faith. 

The  population  at  this  time  consisted  possibly  of  about 
two  million  people  —  hunters,  fishermen  and  farmers, 
divided  up  into  many  different  clans.  The  center  of  popu- 
lation was  in  the  Osaka-Kyoto  region,  and  the  dominant 
tribe  whose  head  was  the  Mikado  exercised  authority  over 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  main  island,  though  the  out- 
lying portions,^  especially  in  the  north,  were  still  in  the  hands 
of  the  aboriginal  Ainus.  The  people,  though  very  simple 
in  their  manner  of  life,  were  intellectually  well  gifted  and 
later  proved  to  be  endowed  with  extraordinary  aesthetic 
ability.  Their  religion  was  Shinto^  —  The  Way  of  the  Gods. 
This  religion  was  and  is  in  some  of  its  phases  even  to-day  an 
animistic  and  polytheistic  Nature  Worship  with  a  strong 
admixture  of  Ancestor  Worship.'*  The  forces  of  nature  are 
personified  and  anthropomorphized,  while  the  heroes  and 
ancestors,  especially  those  of  the  royal  family,  are  deified.^ 
The  soul  of  Shinto  is  reverence  and  implicit  obedience  to  the 
Mikado  ;  and  religion  and  patriotism  are  made  one.  Yamato 
Damashii,^  The  Spirit  of  Japan,  is  largely  the  product 
of  this  religion,  and  it  has  played  a  great  part  in  the  conquest, 
unification  and  civilization  of  the  entire  country.  Japan  is 
regarded  by  Shinto  as  the  sacred  land  of  the  gods ;  and  every 


INTRODUCTION  INTO  JAPAN  83 

mountain,  river,  rock,  tree  and  cloud  is  tlie  abode  of  some 
deity.  But  Siiinto  was  really  too  childish  in  many  of  its 
conceptions  and  did  not  satisfy  the  deeper  needs  of  the  human 
mind  and  heart.  The  rising  tide  of  Japanese  civilization, 
quickened  as  it  was  by  the  introduction  of  new  ideas  from 
the  continent,  made  Shinto  more  and  more  inadequate,  and 
Japan  was  on  the  whole  ready  for  the  new  and  more  elaborate 
faith  of  Buddhism. 

So  much  for  a  summary  of  conditions  which  prevailed  in 
Japan  when  Buddhism  was  first  introduced.  It  was  there- 
fore comparatively  easy  for  the  new  religion  to  get  a  firm 
hold,  especially  upon  the  more  progressive  element.  Its* 
success  was,  however,  not  due  simply  to  its  superiority  as 
a  religion,  but  even  more  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  vehicle 
of  a  higher  civilization,  namely,  the  Chinese  civilization  from 
whose  fountains  Japan  has  ever  drunk  deeply  even  up  to 
almost  the  present  day.  We  have  a  modern  parallel  in  what 
is  happening  in  Korea  today.  The  success  of  Christianity 
in  that  land  is  due  in  some  measure  at  least  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  vehicle  of  western  civilization  and  not  simply  because 
it  is  a  superior  religion. 

Soon  after  the  incidents  connected  with  the  introduction 
of  Buddhism  related  above,  the  ruler  of  Japan,  more  anxious 
for  the  concrete  things  of  Korean  and  Chinese  civilizations 
than  for  the  new  religion,  sent  a  message  to  the  king  of 
Kudara  in  which  he  asked  the  king  to  send  no  more  Buddhist 
priests  and  images,  but  to  supply  him  with  physicians, 
apothecaries,  soothsayers,  almanac  makers  and  artisans 
of  one  sort  and  another.  The  priests,  books  and  images, 
however,  continued  to  come  together  with  the  things  specially 
asked  for.  This  influx  of  so  many  new  things  had  very 
much  the  same  effect  that  the  influx  of  western  things  has 
had  in  our  own  day;  it  caused  a  temporary  upheaval  and 
led  to  much  internal  strife  and  war.  But  it  was  not  long 
till  Buddhism  had  won  for  itself  a  place  in  the  heart  of  mem- 
bers of  the  ruling  family  and  thus  secured  protection.  Em- 
press Suiko  (593-628  a.d.)  became  an  ardent  Buddhist,  giv- 
ing over  the  affairs  of  state  to  the  Crown  Prince  Mumayado 


84  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

(better  known  as  Shotoku  Taishi),  so  that  she  might  have 
more  time  for  advancing  the  new  faith.  More  important 
than  this  was  the  fact  that  the  Crown  Prince  himself  em- 
braced the  new  rehgion  and  administered  the  affairs  of  state 
in  such  a  way  that  every  thing  tended  towards  the  spread 
of  Buddhism.  In  the  so-called  constitution  of  Seventeen 
Articles  promulgated  by  him,  he  expressly  ordered  his 
people  to  pay  all  due  respect  to  the  new  religion.  He  "  bent 
all  his  energies  to  import  from  Korea,  scholars,  priests,  archi- 
tects, wood  carvers,  bronze  founders,  clay  modelers,  masons, 
gilders,  tile  makers,  and  weavers ;  in  short,  all  skilled  artisans 
whose  work  was  involved  in  creating  and  installing  a  great 
Buddhist  temple  such  as  w^ere  already  known  in  the  penin- 
sula kingdom."  In  fact,  it  is  held  by  some  scholars  that 
the  prince  was  no  mean  artist  himself  and  that  the  famous 
Hdryuji  near  Nara  erected  under  his  direction  has  among 
its  art  treasures  some  created  by  his  own  hands.  It  is 
therefore  not  at  all  strange  that  by  the  end  of  Empress 
Suiko's  reign  (628  a.d.)  there  were  already  46  temples  in 
existence,  and  816  priests  and  569  nuns  had  been  conse- 
crated. Not  only  did  Buddhist  missionaries  pour  in  from 
Korea  and  China,  but  Japanese  were  beginning  to  go  in 
greater  and  greater  numbers  to  the  continent  to  study  at 
the  great  centers  of  religion  and  culture  and  then  come 
back  with  new  learning  and  enthusiasm  for  the  Buddhist 
faith. 

The  influence  upon  Japanese  civilization  of  this  close 
contact  with  the  higher  continental  civilization  can  hardly 
be  overstated.  In  a  comparatively  short  time  this  simple 
island  people  had  taken  over  the  fruit  of  centuries  of  Chinese 
culture  and  made  it  their  own.  In  fact,  the  assimilation  of 
western  culture  in  our  own  day  which  has  astonished  the 
world  is  no  more  wonderful  than  what  happened  in  the 
history  of  this  people  during  the  seventh  century.  With 
the  founding  of  the  great  monastery  of  Horyuji  early  in  the 
seventh  century  began  that  marvelous  development  of  the 
fine  arts  which  in  a  few  decades  issued  in  the  production  of 
world  masterpieces,  for  art  critics  claim  that  the  famous 


THE  NARA  SECTS  85 

Shaka  trinity  with  its  marvelous  lacework  screen  created 
at  this  time  has  never  been  surpassed  as  a  work  in  bronze  by 
any  people  in  any  age.  Not  only  did  Japan  quickly  learn 
what  China  and  Korea  had  to  teach,  but  the  pupil  went 
beyond  his  teacher  in  many  respects,  so  that  if  one  would 
see  the  highest  development  of  Asiatic  art  one  has  to  turn  to 
Japan  for  specimens.''  In  the  political  world,  too,  Japan 
was  quick  to  learn  from  the  continental  neighbors.  The 
great  reform,  beginning  in  645  a.d.  and  continuing  through 
the  rest  of  the  century,  known  as  the  Taikwa  Reforms,  changed 
the  ruler  of  Japan  from  what  was  little  better  than  a  tribal 
chief  into  a  real  monarch  of  an  empire.^  We  might  say  in 
a  word  that  the  impact  of  Chinese  culture  fostered  largely 
by  Buddhists  changed,  at  least  in  the  upper  classes,  a  simple, 
unlettered  people  into  a  people  of  culture  and  refinement. 

B.    Rise  of  the  Nara  Sects 

It  is  a  rather  significant  fact  that  Buddliism  was  firmly 
rooted  in  Japan  before  any  sectarian  differences  were  intro- 
duced. For  a  period  of  about  seventy  years  wise  mission- 
aries were  content  with  teaching  the  general  terfets  of  their 
faith.  Perhaps  this  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  people  of 
Japan  were  really  not  intellectually  prepared  to  appreciate 
the  fine  points  of  the  sectarian  speculations,  and  were  more 
interested  in  the  external  trappings  of  religion  and  the  simpler 
teachings  contained  in  the  moral  maxims  and  precepts  more 
or  less  common  to  all  the  sects.  Finally,  however,  the 
sectarian  differences  made  their  appearance  early  in  the 
seventh  century. 

Curiously  enough  the  first  sect  to  be  introduced  was  the 
highly  metaphysical  Sanron  Sect  (Madhyamika  school 
founded  originally  by  Nagarjuna).  It  \\as  brought  in  from 
China  in  the  year  625  by  Ekwan.  Its  headquarters  was  the 
famous  Horyuji  near  Nara  mentioned  above.  The  Sanron 
sect  belongs  to  what  is  called  the  Provisional  ^  Mahayana 
school.  Starting  with  the  Hinayana  position  of  the  non- 
reality  of  the  ego,  it  carries  the  principle  of  negation  to  the 
point  at  which  it  denies  the  reality  of  all  phenomenal  ex- 


86  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE    BUDDHISM 

istence;  and  the  noumenal  world,  it  holds,  can  only  be 
defined  in  negative  terms,  ■^ 

Synchronous  with  the  establishment  of  the  Sanron  was 
that  of  the  Jojitsu  Sect  (Satya-siddhi-sastra  Sect).  This 
sect  never  gained  a  real  independent  existence,  but  was 
propagated  in  conjunction  with  the  Sanron.  It  belongs  to 
the  Hinayana  school  and  represents  in  its  doctrines  a  rather 
strong  subjective  idealism. 

The  third  sect  to  find  its  way  into  Japan  was  the  Hosso 
(Dharma-lakshana  Sect,  i.e.,  the  Yoga  school).  It  was 
brought  over  from  China  by  Dosho  probably  about  the 
middle  of  the  seventh  century,  though  some  would  put  it 
as  early  as  625.  The  Hosso,  like  the  Sanron,  belongs  to  the 
Provisional  Mahayana  school.  This  is  the  sect  which  in 
the  person  of  Gyogi  Bosatsu,  during  the  eighth  century, 
initiated  that  syncretistic  movement  by  which  the  claims 
of  the  native  Shinto  and  the  new  religion  were  reconciled. 
Of  this  we  shall  speak  later. 

The  Kusha  Sect  (Abhidharma-kosa-sastra  Sect)  was  the 
fourth  to  be  established  in  Japan,  being  introduced  in  658 
by  two  Japanese  priests  who  had  studied  in  China,  namely, 
Chitsu  and  Chitatsu.  This  sect  is  usually  regarded  as  the 
best  representative  of  the  Hinayana  school  of  Buddhism. 
The  center  of  its  teachings  is  an  elaborate  psychological 
analysis  through  which  it  seeks  to  account  for  the  complex 
of  the  phenomenal  world  and  yet  at  the  same  time  denies 
the  reality  of  the  ego. 

About  three  quarters  of  a  century  elapsed  before  the  fifth 
Chinese  sect  was  introduced.  This  was  the  Kegon  (Avatam- 
saka-sutra  Sect)  brought  over  in  736.  The  Kegon  was  the 
first  sect  of  the  true  Mahayana  school  which  later  was  to  be 
the  type  ^°  of  Buddhism  which  really  won  Japan.  Though 
this  sect  has  now  practically  disappeared,  it  has  exerted  a 
great  influence  upon  other  sects  through  its  chief  scripture, 
the  Kegonkyo  (Avatamsaka-sutra),  which  has  ever  been 
popular  with  Buddhist  scholars  as  one  of  the  chief  sources 
of  Mahayana  philosophy. 

Last  of  these  older  sects  to  reach  Japan  was  the  Ritsu 


THE   NARA  SECTS  87 

(Vinaya  Sect),  introduced  in  754,  though  it  would  seem  that 
its  doctrines,  or  rather  its  classifications  of  the  moral  laws 
and  precepts  contained  in  the  Vinaya  scriptures,  were  among 
the  first  teachings  to  be  introduced  into  Japan.  In  fact,  it 
was  probably  these  practical  moral  teachings  rather  than 
the  philosophical  speculations  of  the  other  sects  which 
helped  win  Japan  so  speedily  to  the  religion  of  the  Buddha. 
The  Ritsu  belongs  to  the  Hinayana  school.  It,  too,  like  the 
other  Hinayana  sects,  has  disappeared,  but  its  teachings 
have  been  more  or  less  absorbed  by  the  existing  Mahayana 
sects,  and  in  that  way  still  exert  an  influence. 

Now  these  six  sects  are  frequently  spoken  of  as  the  Six 
Sects  of  Nara  to  distinguish  them  from  the  later  Kyoto  and 
Kamakura  sects.  They  are  called  Nara  sects  because  it 
was  in  and  around  Nara  and  during  the  Nara  Epoch  (710- 
794)  that  they  attained  their  highest  development.  The 
marvelous  progress  made  by  Japan  during  the  seventh 
century,  of  which  we  have  spoken  above,  was  continued 
during  the  eighth.  In  fact  we  may  say  that  the  eighth 
century  marks  one  of  the  great  culminations  of  Japanese 
history.  Many  of  the  great  things  of  old  Japan  came  into 
being  at  this  time.  Thus,  e.g.  Nara,  which  was  made  the 
capital  of  the  realm  in  710,  was  the  first  real  city  Japan  had 
up  till  that  time.  And  it  was  no  mean  city  even  when  com- 
pared with  the  great  cities  of  other  lands,  its  population,  it 
is  claimed  by  some,  reaching  upward  of  500,000.  Here,  or 
in  the  immediate  vicinity,  were  to  be  found  many  a  noble 
Buddhist  edifice  filled  with  treasures  of  art,  some  of  which 
have  come  down  to  our  own  times  to  be  the  wonder  of  con- 
noisseurs. It  was  in  the  Nara  epoch,  namely  in  749,  that  the 
enormous  Nara  Daibutsu,  the  world's  largest  bronze  statue, 
was  cast.  It  is  53  feet  in  height  and  into  its  creation  entered 
500  Japanese  pounds  (about  666  lb.)  of  gold,  16,827  pounds 
of  tin,  1,954  pounds  of  mercury  and  986,180  pounds  of  copper 
and  some  lead.  The  famous  Todaiji  Bell,  over  13  feet  high 
and  weighing  40  tons,^^  belongs  to  this  century.  Early  in 
the  Nara  Epoch  were  published  Japan's  oldest  histories,^^ 
namely,  the  Kojiki  in  712  and  the  Nihongi  in  720.     Aston 


88  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

calls  this  age  the  "Golden  Age  of  Poetry,"  for  during  this 
period  were  written  the  Manyoshu,  or  "  Collection  of  Myriad 
Leaves,"  containing  more  than  4000  pieces,  mostly  short 
poems  (Tanka)  but  also  some  longer  ones  (Nagauta). 

All  this  splendor  of  culture  and  civilization  was  largely 
the  work,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  of  Buddhism  and 
shows  to  what  power  and  influence  the  new  religion  had 
attained  by  this  time.  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed 
that  the  common  people  of  the  land  had  been  won  over 
completely  to  the  new  faith.  This  outw^ard  splendor  and 
magnificence  made,  of  course,  a  very  strong  appeal  to  the 
imagination ;  but,  after  all,  there  was  deep  down  in  the  heart 
of  the  average  man  still  a  strong  loyalty  to  the  old  things  of 
the  native  cults,  and  he  was  therefore  ever  ready  to  blame  the 
gods  of  the  new  religion  for  the  adverse  things  which  befell 
him  or  the  nation  from  time  to  time.  It  was  so  even  during 
the  Nara  Epoch.  A  great  epidemic  of  smallpox  afflicted 
the  realm.  Introduced  from  Korea  into  the  southern  island 
of  Kyushu,  it  spread  northward  until  in  735  it  began  to 
devastate  even  the  aristocratic  circles  in  the  capital  itself. 
Offerings  were  made  at  the  various  temples  by  priests  and 
their  royal  patrons,  but  all  seemed  to  be  of  no  avail.  It  was 
at  this  time  that  the  Emperor  Shomu  contemplated  the  erec- 
tion of  the  great  Nara  Daibutsu.  However,  before  he  dared 
to  show  his  confidence  in  the  Buddhas  in  such  an  open 
manner  he  had  to  find  a  way  by  which  to  appease  the  native 
deities  and  their  devotees.  Accordingly,  he  sent  the  illus- 
trious Gyogi  Bosatsu,  a  grandson  of  a  Korean  immigrant, 
to  the  Ise  shrines  to  inquire  of  the  Sun  Goddess  what  she 
thought  of  the  emperor's  project.  Gyogi  remained  at  the 
shrine  for  a  week  and  then  he  returned  to  Nara  with  a 
favorable  answer,  viz.  that  the  Sun  Goddess  had  declared 
herself  as  identical  with  the  Buddha  to  whose  honor  the 
statue  was  to  be  erected.  A  few  nights  later  the  emperor 
himself  is  said  to  have  had  a  dream  in  which  the  Sun  Goddess 
said  to  him,  ''The  Sun  is  Biroshana."  (Biroshana  is  the 
Japanese  transliteration  for  Vairochana).  This  marks  the 
beginning   of  that   syncretistic  movement   so   successfully 


THE  KYOTO  SECTS  89 

carried  out  during  the  ninth  century  by  Dengyo  Daishi 
and  especially  by  Kobo  Daishi  which  resulted  in  recon- 
ciling the  claims  of  the  two  religions  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people.  It  should,  however,  be  added  that  it  also 
resulted  in  perverting  things,  and  so  in  the  long  run  really 
did  more  harm  than  good,  as  every  unprincipled  compro- 
mise must  do. 

The  influence  of  Buddhism  during  the  Nara  period  was 
great,  not  only  in  the  spheres  mentioned  above,  but  it  ex- 
tended perhaps  even  more  into  the  field  of  politics  and  state 
affairs.  This  is  only  natural,  for  it  must  be  remembered 
that  Buddhism  gained  its  first  and  chief  hold  on  the  upper 
and  ruling  classes  rather  than  upon  the  common  people. 
Frequently  this  influence  was  for  the  good,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  men  who  had  studied  in 
China,  or  under  Chinese  priests  in  Japan,  that  were  best 
acquainted  with  politics  and  matters  of  government  as  con- 
ducted on  the  continent.^^  This  superior  knowledge  gave 
these  men  a  natural  place  as  advisers  to  the  court  and  other 
ofiicials.  But  the  temptations  which  this  influence  gave  to 
the  disciple  of  Buddha  was  more  than  could  be  endured,  and 
it  was  not  long  therefore  till  the  monks  and  priests  became 
more  interested  in  the  "things  that  are  Caesar's"  than  in 
their  true  mission.  In  fact  things  reached  such  a  state  that 
during  the  reign  of  Empress  Shotoku  (765-770)  a  Buddhist 
monk,  Dokyo,  had  managed  to  make  himself  the  most 
powerful  subject  in  the  land  and  was  even  planning  to  place 
himself  upon  the  imperial  throne.  In  this,  however,  he  did 
not  succeed,  and  while  the  ambitious  clergy  continued  to 
meddle  in  such  things,  the  time  was  fast  approaching  when 
not  only  the  guilty  were  to  suffer  for  their  sins,  but  the  whole 
Buddhist  world  which  had  centered  around  the  old  capital 
of  Nara,  yea  Nara  itself,  was  soon  to  wane  in  importance 
and  yield  its  place  to  another. 

C.    The  Kyoto  Sects 

In  the  year  782  Emperor  Kwammu  succeeded  to  the  throne. 
He  must  have  been  a  man  of  daring  and  originality,  for  it 


90  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

was  he  who  cut  the  Gordian  knot  of  the  political  tangle  of 
his  day  by  simply  abandoning  Nara  to  the  Buddhists  and 
their  schemes  and  setting  up  his  capital  first  at  Nagaoka  and 
then  at  a  place  he  significantly  called  Heian  (Peace), 
namely,  the  present  Kyoto.  This  took  place  between  784- 
793,  and  here  at  Kyoto  the  capital  of  the  empire  remained  for 
almost  1100  years,  namely  down  to  1868,  when  the  late 
Emperor  Meiji  removed  his  seat  of  government  to  Tokyo. 
Kyoto  soon  overshadowed  Nara  and  became  indeed  one  of 
the  world's  greatest  centers  of  culture.  The  decline  of  Nara 
had  apparently  a  disastrous  effect  upon  the  Buddhist  sects 
entrenched  there,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  a  Japanese, 
true  to  the  fundamental  principle  of  his  native  Shinto,  is 
first  a  patriot  and  then  a  man  of  religion.  When  the  two 
conflict,  religion  is  apt  to  be  the  loser.  To  this  day  this  seems 
to  be  a  characteristic  of  the  average  Japanese.  Religion  is 
presented  by  its  advocates  as  something  good  for  the  welfare 
of  the  state,  and  by  those  who  oppose  it,  it  is  opposed  on  the 
grounds  that  it  is  injurious  to  the  state.  The  greatest 
obstacle  which  Christianity  has  met  in  Japan  is  the  claim  on 
the  part  of  its  enemies  that  it  undermines  the  state.  Even 
a  scholar  in  Japan  is  very  slow  to  follow  where  truth  would 
lead  him  if  it  should  seem  to  conflict  with  the  sacred  tradi- 
tions of  the  nation. 

Now  this  running  away  from  the  meddling  of  the  Nara 
sects  did  not  mean  that  Emperor  Kwammu  had  turned  his 
back  on  Buddhism  as  a  religion.  He  simply  wanted  the  monks 
to  keep  their  proper  place  and  to  leave  for  Caesar  the  things 
that  are  Caesar's.  But  to  make  sure  that  he  was  getting 
the  right  type  of  religious  leaders  he  sent  a  promising  young 
man  directly  to  China  to  bring  back  a  purer  religion  which 
would  minister  in  things  spiritual  and  leave  the  affairs  of 
state  in  his  own  hands.  This  young  man  was  Saicho, 
better  known  as  Dengyo  Daishi,  the  founder  of  the  powerful 
Tendai  sect  in  Japan.  He  was  followed  a  few  months  later 
by  the  equally  famous  Kukai,  known  best  by  his  posthumous 
title  Kobo  Daishi,  the  founder  of  the  other  powerful  sect  of 
this  period,  namely,  the  Shingon  Sect.    These  two,  Dengyo 


DENGYO  AND  TENDAI  SECT  91 

Daishi  and  Kobo  Daishi,  are  the  great  names  in  Japanese 
Buddhism  of  the  ninth  century;  and  the  two  sects  which 
they  founded  have  occupied  a  prominent  place  in  Japanese 
history  down  to  the  present  day. 

1.    Dengyo  Daishi  and  Tendai.  —  The  Tendai  sect  may 
be  characterized  as  the  harmonizing,  comprehensive  sect. 
That  is,  Tendai  tries  to  hold  to  all  the  contradictions  of 
the   voluminous   Mahayana   and    Hinayana    scriptures    as 
being  the  direct  teachings  of  the  founder  of  Buddhism. 
It  was   Chi    K'ai,   the   founder  of   the   Tendai   (Chinese, 
T'ien-t'ai)   Sect  in    China  who  worked  out   an  elaborate 
harmonizing  ^^  scheme  by  which  he  tried  to  show  how  every 
Buddhist  scripture  has  its  own  peculiar  place  and  is  the 
direct  or  indirect  product  of  S'akyamuni's  mind.    Humanity 
has  varied  needs  and  these  needs  must  be  met  in  different 
ways.     Thus  every  scripture  has  its  truth,  each  giving  its  own 
peculiar  angle  of  vision.     This  irenic  attitude  was  taken  by 
Chi  K'ai  in  the  face  of  contending  sects,  each  of  which 
seemed  to  proclaim  a  different  system.     There  were  e.g.  in 
China  at  that  time  the  old  Abhidharma  sects  which  tried  to 
define  all  truth  with  an  Aristotelian  precision  of  detail.     On 
the  other  hand  the  Pure  Land  sects  were  teaching  that  all 
attempts  of  salvation  through  knowledge  of  detailed  truth 
was  vain  and  that  there  was  only  one  way,  namely,  the  way 
of  Faith   in  the   Grace  of  Amitabha.     And   still  another 
group  of  sects  were  the  contemplative  sects  which  held  that 
neither  book  learning  nor  a  pious  trust  in  Amitabha  saved 
a  man,  but  that  quiet  meditation  and  abstract  contempla- 
tion was  the  only  true  way.     Now  in  the  face  of  these  con- 
tending schools  the  comprehensive  Tendai  Sect  arose  and  it 
included  all  ways,  rejecting  none.     Thus  a  Tendai  disciple 
may  find  salvation  through  philosophic  wisdom,  or,  rejecting 
the  great  mass  of  doctrines  contained  in  the  voluminous 
scriptures,  he  may  select  merely  the  comfortable  doctrine 
of  salvation  through  faith  in  Amitabha 's  great  name.     Or, 
again,  he  may  reject  all  book  learning  and  all  simple  faith 
and  work  out  his  own  salvation  through  silent  meditation 
and  abstract  contemplation,  as  do  the  contemplative  sects. 


92  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

The  broad-minded  Tendai  philosopher,  however,  would  try 
to  hold  to  the  truth  in  every  way,  though  as  a  matter  of  fact 
very  few  ever  attained  this  supposedly  lofty  ideal.  After 
all,  there  was  developed  what  we  might  call  an  orthodox 
Tendai  system  which  did  reject  some  things  and  included 
others  as  characteristically  Tendai  teachings.  Thus  while 
theoretically  Tendai  accepted  all  scriptures  as  of  equal 
value,  Tendai  teachers  looked  upon  the  Saddharma-Pun- 
darika-sutra  with  peculiar  reverence.  This  sutra  together 
with  the  Mahaprajna-paramita-sutra  contain,  after  all,  the 
loftiest  teachings  of  S'akyamuni;  and  while  the  teachings 
of  other  scriptures  are  not  false  they  must  be  regarded  as 
incomplete  and  only  provisional.  As  we  have  said  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  the  Saddharma-Pundarika  breathes  a 
Buddhism  quite  difFerent  from  the  Buddhism  of  S'akyamuni. 
S'akyamuni  himself  is  regarded  as  but  one  of  the  manifesta- 
tions of  the  Eternal  Buddha,  or  Buddhas.  The  identification 
of  the  historical  manifestation  with  the  Eternal  Buddha  is 
the  great  revelation  of  this  scripture.  To  know  this  and  to 
trust  in  this  knowledge  far  outweighs  all  merit  which  man 
can  heap  up  by  practicing  the  Buddhist  \drtues  and  per- 
fections through  countless  incarnations.  Inasmuch,  then, 
as  Tendai  lays  peculiar  stress  on  these  scriptures  it  does 
have  its  peculiar  doctrines,  but  it  does  not  thereby  ex- 
clude absolutely  other  doctrines  even  if  they  should  seem 
to  be  contradictory.^^ 

Now  this  all-inclusive  system  was  brought  to  Japan  by 
Dengyo  Daishi  early  in  the  ninth  century.  But  the  Jap- 
anese Tendai  Sect  underwent  certain  changes  and  differs 
considerably  from  the  parent  sect  in  China.  This  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  not  only  Dengyo  Daishi,  but  also  other  learned 
Japanese  priests,  such  as  Jikaku  Daishi  who  studied  in  China, 
drank  not  only  from  the  fountains  of  wisdom  which  flowed 
from  the  sacred  mountains  of  T'ien-t'ai,  but  also  from  the 
deep  wells  of  truth  guarded  by  other  Chinese  sects.  Another 
factor  which  was  operative  was  that  deep-rooted  Japanese 
characteristic  which  is  quick  to  adopt  anything  new  but 
always  only  after  some  slight  modifications  and  a  mingling 


DENGYO  AND  TENDAI  SECT  93 

with  something  from  other  sources.  Japanese  Tendai 
claims  to  be  eclectic  rather  than  all-inclusive.  That  is,  it 
does  not  simply  take  everything  contained  in  other  schools, 
but  it  rather  chooses  what  it  regards  the  best  of  all  schools. 
But,  of  course,  an  eclectic  process  may  be  carried  so  far  that 
it  ceases  to  be  eclectic  and  becomes  sunply  an  absorption 
of  things  good,  bad  and  indifferent.  And  that  is  what 
seems  to  have  gradually  taken  place  in  Japanese  Tendai.  It 
is  practically  impossible  to  say  for  what  it  really  stands. 
Thus,  e.g.  some  Tendai  temples  you  will  find  littered  up 
with  images  of  Buddhas  and  Bodhisattvas  innumerable. 
They  impress  one  as  religious  junk  shops.  Other  temples 
may  have  only  a  trinity  of  Buddhas,  and  still  others  seem  to 
honor  but  one  Buddha.  In  the  temples  which  sprang  from 
the  famous  Miidera,  Amida  (Amitabha)  seems  to  be  the  sole 
object  of  worship.  Thus  the  Amida  teaching  was  held  in 
Japan  long  before  the  real  Amida  sects  came  into  existence. 
Again  in  one  and  the  same  temple,  one  believer  may  preface 
his  meditations  and  prayers  by  the  formula,  "  Namu  Amida 
Butsu,"  "I  adore  Thee  Thou  Buddha  of  Eternal  Life  and 
Light"  and  another  believer  may  use  the  equally  popular 
form  of,  "Namu-Myoho  Renge-kyo,"  "I  worship  Thee 
Thou  Scripture  of  the  Wonderful  Lotus" ;  the  former  being 
to-day  the  special  prayer  of  the  Amida  sects,  and  the  latter 
the  "vain  repetition  "  of  the  Nichiren  Sect. 

Now  the  Tendai  harmonist  may  believe  that  he  can  recon- 
cile the  varied  beliefs  and  practices  of  his  own  sect  by  saying 
that  they  are  but  different  angles  of  the  same  truth ;  to  the 
Western  mind,  however,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  such  a 
harmony  is  anything  more  than  an  empty  formula.  And 
to  the  practical  Japanese  mind  it  also  has  appeared  so,  and 
that  is  the  chief  reason  why  the  Tendai  Sect  not  only  split 
into  several  sub-sects  but  also  why  from  it  went  out  many 
great  reformers  who  could  not  endure  the  contradictions. 
Thus,  as  we  shall  see  later,  from  the  Tendai  Sect  came  forth 
the  founders  of  the  great  Amida  sects  of  Japan,  the  Zen  sects 
and  the  Nichiren  Sect.  In  these  independent  sects  these 
conflicting  doctrines  found  their  freest  development,  and 


94  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

these  sects  in  the  course  of  time  gradually  overshadowed  the 
great  Tendai  Sect  itself. 
^  2.    Kobo  Daishi  and  Shingon.  —  As  we  stated  above,  at 

the  time  Dengyo  Daishi  introduced  the  Tendai  Sect  Kobo 
Daishi  laid  the  foundations  for  the  beginnings  of  the 
Shingon  Sect.  The  latter,  like  the  former,  studied  at  the 
various  centers  of  learning  in  China.  He  remained  abroad 
several  years  and  seems  to  have  come  into  contact  with 
various  influences  —  Buddhist  and  others.  When  he  re- 
turned to  Japan  he  brought  with  him  many  scriptures 
from  the  Chinese  canon,  and  these  he  studied  assidu- 
ously. He  soon  began  to  preach  his  new  teachings,  the 
core  of  which  was  that  man  can  even  in  this  present  life 
attain  Buddhahood  since  he  is  essentially  one  with  the 
Eternal  Buddha.  His  teaching  was  naturally  challenged 
by  the  priests  of  the  older  Kara  sects,  but  tradition  has  it 
that  in  his  disputations  with  them  he  usually  gained  a  miracu- 
lous victory  on  account  of  which  he  was  held  in  high  esteem 
by  emperor  and  people.  Especially  did  he  gain  the  gratitude 
of  Japan  when  once,  after  a  long  drought,  the  heavens 
responded  to  his  prayers  offered  at  the  request  of  his  Imperial 
patron.  Kobo  was  not  only  a  man  of  prayer  but  also  a  man 
exceptionally  gifted  in  other  lines.  He  is  credited  by  some 
with  the  invention  of  one  form  of  the  simple  Kana  script, 
and  his  linguistic  ability  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  the 
Emperor  Saga  often  summoned  him  to  the  palace  that  he 
might  hear  his  beautiful  language.  As  an  educator  of  the 
common  people  he  may  be  said  to  have  been  a  pioneer,  for 
he  it  was  who  founded  the  Sogei  Shuchiin  which  was  the 
first  institution  in  which  the  general  public  had  access  to 
education  and  which  was  the  forerunner  of  those  temple 
schools  which  were  often  the  chief  centers  of  light  during 
the  dark  ages  in  Japan.  The  culture  of  the  silkworm, 
from  which  industry  Japan  to  this  day  draws  its  greatest 
revenue,  was  apparently  greatly  promoted  by  him.  As 
a  sculpturer  he  must  have  been  a  marvel,  for  there  are 
many  places  in  central  Japan  which  boast  of  relics  of 
his  work  in  stone. 


KOBO  AND  SHINGON  SECT  95 

But  while  popular  with  emperor  and  people,  Kobo  Daishi 
preferred  solitude,  and  after  much  searching  for  a  quiet 
spot  he  finally  found  Mt.  Koya,  where  with  the  emperor's 
permission  he  built  a  temple.  Later  when  his  Imperial  ad- 
mirer gave  him  the  temple  Toji  in  Kyoto  he  settled  there  and 
made  it  the  center  of  his  sect.  But  when  old  age  approached 
and  he  saw  the  end  coming  he  fled  to  his  quiet  retreat  on 
Mt.  Koya,  where  he  died  in  835  in  fasting  and  silent  medi- 
tation. There  he  is  buried,  and  the  pious  followers  of  this 
great  teacher  believe  that  he  is  sitting  in  his  tomb  wait- 
ing for  Maitreya  (Miroku),  the  Buddha  of  the  Future, 
to  come  and  convert  the  world.  When  Maitreya  comes 
K6b5  will  come  forth  from  his  tomb  and  join  in  the  glory 
of  victory. 

If  Dengyo  Daishi's  teachings  may  be  described  as  a  com- 
prehensive system,  Kobo  Daishi's  system  is  characterized 
by  the  words  Mystery  and  Magic.  In  many  respects  the 
Shingon  Sect  is  furthest  removed  from  the  teachings  of 
S'akyamuni.  Strange  to  say,  it,  too,  holds  the  Saddharma- 
Pundarika  in  highest  regard,  and  its  great  Buddha  is  the 
Eternal  Buddha  Vairochana  of  whom  S'akyamuni  is  but 
one  of  many  manifestations.  Where  the  Tendai  holds  to 
a  theory  of  successive  stages  in  the  Buddha's  teachings, 
Shingon  divides  the  doctrines  into  exoteric  and  esoteric 
teachings,  and  calls  its  own  peculiar  doctrines,  The  Secret 
Teachings  (Himitsukyo).  The  great  secret  is  the  revealed 
secret  that  man  can  even  now  attain  Buddhahood  because 
he  is  essentially  one  with  the  Eternal  Buddha.  There  are, 
in  general,  two  ladders  by  which  this  pinnacle  of  all  truth  may 
be  reached ;  one  is  the  intellectual  ladder  and  the  other  the 
moral  ladder,  each  of  which  has  ten  rungs.  The  intellectual 
ladder  leads  upwards,  rung  after  rung,  from  the  lowest  being 
to  the  highest  being,  from  the  finite  to  the  Absolute.  The 
moral  ladder  is  the  Buddhist  decalogue  with  its  elaborations 
in  the  various  monk  rules  which  have  been  handed  down 
from  century  to  century. 

In  Shingon  we  have  "a  world  of  ideas"  (Kongokai,  liter- 
ally, Diamond  World)  which  is  unchangeable  and  everlasting, 


96  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

having  existence  only  in  universal  thought.  Parallel  to 
this  "world  of  ideas,"  as  a  sort  of  material  counterpart,  is 
the  world  of  phenomena.  The  center  of  both  worlds  is  the 
great  Buddha  Vairochana.  In  the  "world  of  ideas"  the 
central  sun  Vairochana  (Dainichi,  literally,  Great  Sun) 
tends  to  draw  all  bodies  to  itself,  and  when  one  has  reached 
the  highest  enlightenment  one  sees  that  the  thought  of 
Vairochana  really  includes  all  thoughts,  for  Vairochana  is 
the  All.  In  the  world  of  the  material  counterpart,  however, 
the  movement  is  in  the  opposite  direction,  i.e.  the  movement 
is  outward  and  from  Vairochana  emanate  other  Buddhas. 
From  these  other  Buddhas  emanate  Bodhisattvas ;  from  the 
Bodhisattvas,  in  turn,  issue  other  and  lesser  beings,  and  so 
the  emanation  process  goes  on  till  the  whole  phenomenal 
world  is  evolved.  The  source  of  all  existence,  then,  is  the 
Eternal  Buddha.  All  other  beings  have  only  relative  ex- 
istence. They  are  not  void  but  neither  are  they  permanent 
as  such.  Vairochana  as  the  center  of  "the  world  of  ideas" 
is  conceived  of  after  the  analogy  of  a  planetary  system, 
Vairochana  being  the  sun  and  Akshobhya,  Amitabha, 
Ratnasambhava  and  S'akyamuni  being  four  great  planets, 
each  of  which  has  lesser  beings  as  satellites.  Vairochana  as 
the  center  of  the  world  of  phenomena  is  conceived  of  as  the 
heart  of  an  eight-leaf  lotus  flower,  the  eight  petals  being 
Amitabha,  Avalokitesvara,  Dioyagosha,  Maitreya,  Ratna 
Shvaya,  Samantabhadra,  Muktapushpa  and  Manjusri. 

Thus  as  we  have  said,  Vairochana  is  on  the  one  hand 
the  source  of  all  life  and  of  all  beings,  and  on  the  other 
hand  he  represents  the  sum  total  of  all  truth.  Since  man 
is  but  a  fragment  of  the  sum  total  of  all  Being  his 
knowledge  is  fragmentary ;  but  the  great  and  saving  reve- 
lation of  Shingon  doctrine  is  the  great  secret  that  man, 
just  because  he  is  an  emanation  from  Vairochana,  is  really 
one  with  him.  Man's  apparent  separateness  is  not  real ; 
deeper  than  this  is  the  fact  of  his  oneness  in  essence  with 
the  Great  All. 

This  doctrine  of  the  essential  oneness  of  man  with  the 
great  Eternal  Buddha  Vairochana  differs  very  little  from 


KOBO  AND  SHINGON  SECT  97 

the  pantheistic  philosophy  underlying  the  teachings  of  most 
Buddhist  sects.  The  difference  comes  with  the  method  by 
which  this  truth  is  to  be  reached.  We  said  that  Shingon 
holds  that  parallel  to  "the  world  of  ideas"  is  the  world  of 
phenomena,  the  former  being  the  underlying  cause  of  the 
latter.  From  this  it  follows  that  ideas  are  the  source  of 
things,  and  thus  if  one  has  the  correct  ideas  one  can  control 
things.  This  is  the  real  meaning  of  the  name  Shingon, 
True  Word.  The  True  Word  which  becomes  the  Magic  Word 
will  become  an  efficient  cause  of  the  desired  phenomenon. 
The  one,  then,  who  knows  the  Magic  Word  is  able  to  achieve 
results  by  simply  thinking  or  speaking  the  thought  expressed 
by  such  words.  Thus,  as  we  said  above,  Shingon  is  char- 
acterized by  the  words  INIystery  and  Magic,  and  Shingon 
priests  are  past  masters  in  all  mystery  as  to  magic  words 
and  signs  made  with  the  fingers  and  the  hands.  These 
occult  powers  may  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  living  or 
the  dead.  Especially  are  the  dead  to  be  delivered  from  the 
sufferings  of  hell  and  lower  realms  of  existence  by  reciting 
the  correct  magical  formulae  or  making  the  required  signs 
with  the  hands  and  fingers. 

Both  in  its  theory  of  emanations  and  in  its  wealth  of  magic 
and  mystery  Shingon  seems  rather  far  removed  from  the 
teachings  of  original  Buddhism  and  also  from  other  forms 
of  later  Buddhism.  Some  scholars  have  sought  to  find 
historical  connections  with  other  religions  and  philosophies, 
and  particularly  has  it  been  pointed  out  that  there  is  much 
affinity  with  Manichseism.  It  is  doubtful  whether  it  can 
be  shown  that  Shingon  has  historical  connections  with 
Manichseism,^^  nor  does  it  seem  necessary  to  go  very  far 
for  the  source  for  these  peculiarities  of  the  sect.  We  have 
already  seen  in  the  last  chapter  that  in  the  fifth  century 
Asanga  had  thrown  open  the  flood-gates  to  all  the  "magic 
and  mystery"  connected  with  the  animism  of  India  and  the 
lands  west  and  north  of  India.  This  stream  was  increased 
in  volume  later  on  by  a  powerful  current  which  had  passed 
through  Tibet  and  then  joined  the  Chinese  Buddhist  stream 
again.     But  whatever  was  its  source,  it  is  clear  that  this 

H 


98  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

prominent  aspect  of  the  Shingon  Sect  is  in  flat  contradiction 
to  the  teachings  of  S'akyamuni,  who  branded  such  things  as 
superstition  and  folly  and  the  real  enemy  of  the  ethics  of 
the  Middle  Path.^^ 

We  said  that  Kob5  Daishi  was  a  great  benefactor  of  Japan, 
and  his  piety  and  good  works  must  have  done  much  to  rec- 
ommend his  religion  to  his  people.  The  thing,  however, 
which  had  more  to  do  with  making  his  religion  acceptable 
to  the  people  of  Japan  than  anything  else  he  did  was  his 
clever  compromise  with  the  native  Shinto.  We  have 
already  stated  above  how  during  the  preceding  century 
Gyogi  Bosatsu  had  begun  the  movement  of  religious  syn- 
cretism by  the  clever  answer  he  brought  back  from  the  Ise 
shrines,  viz.,  that  the  Sun  Goddess  had  declared  herself  to 
be  identical  with  the  Buddha  Roshana  or  Birochana  (Vairo- 
chana)  to  whose  honor  Emperor  Sh5mu  erected  the  great 
Nara  Daibutsu.  How  far  Gyogi  carried  his  scheme  is  hard 
to  say,  but  as  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  artists  of  his  day 
it  is  quite  likely  that  with  his  marvelous  creations  in  bronze 
and  wood  he  made  the  union  of  Shinto  and  Buddhist  deities 
very  real  to  the  people  of  his  day.  But,  after  all,  it  was 
Kobo  Daishi  who  must  be  given  the  honor  of  being  the  one 
who  really  succeeded  through  his  Ryobu  Shint5  in  making 
the  two  religions  but  two  sides  of  the  same  thing.  The  Sun 
Goddess,  Amaterasu,  was  made  identical  with  Vairochana, 
the  great  Buddha  of  Shingon  (Vairochana  is  usually  called 
Dainichi,  Great  Sun),  and  the  lesser  Buddhist  deities  were 
identified  with  the  lesser  Shinto  gods,  or  the  latter  were  de- 
clared to  be  just  so  many  manifestations  of  the  Eternal 
Buddha.  The  Shingon  theory  of  emanations  lent  itself  un- 
usually well  to  this  syncretistic  movement,  for  it  was  easy 
thus  to  account  for  the  essential  oneness  of  the  Buddhist  and 
Shinto  pantheons.  One  and  all  of  the  many  gods  of  both 
religions  were  but  emanations  or  radiations  of  the  Central 
Sun  which  Buddhists  knew  as  Vairochana  and  Shint5ists  as 
Amaterasu.  Since  the  Central  Sun  is  one  and  the  same  in 
both  systems  the  emanations  must  be  essentially  alike,  no 
matter  what  different  names  they  might  have. 


KOBO  AND  SHINGON  SECT  99 

This  movement,  of  course,  resulted  in  bringing  into  Jap- 
anese Buddhism  many  elements  which  were  quite  foreign 
to  original  Buddhism,  and  carried  still  further  the  tendencies 
which  manifested  themselves  as  early  as  the  third  century 
B.C.,  namely,  the  tendency  to  overcome  alien  beliefs  by 
compromise  and  absorption.  From  the  deification  of  its 
founder,  Buddhism  went  on  step  by  step  to  the  admission 
of  gods  upon  gods,  the  greatest  of  whom  being  the  Buddhas 
Amitabha  and  Vairochana,  both  of  whom  were  symbolized 
by  the  sun.  And  when  these  had  been  declared  to  be 
identical  with  the  Sun  Goddess,  Amaterasu,  the  next  steps 
in  this  religious  syncretism  were  comparatively  easy  to  take. 
Even  the  Shinto  War  God,  Hachiman,  was  not  refused 
entrance  into  this  new  religion  which  in  the  mind  of  its 
founder  was  to  have  been  above  all  else  a  religion  of  peace 
and  one  which  subdues  the  passions  which  lead  to  strife  and 
war.  It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  Japanese  Buddhism  has 
always  been  and  is  to  this  day  —  at  least  as  far  as  the  un- 
educated masses  are  concerned  —  a  polytheistic  and  idola- 
trous religion.  And  Kobo  Daishi,  the  saint  par  excellence 
of  early  Japanese  Buddhism,  who  succeeded  in  making  his 
religion  popular  with  the  people,  may  be  regarded  in  a  true 
sense  as  a  perverter  of  Buddhism. 

This  clever  compromise  made  not  only  Kobo's  sect  popu- 
lar but  also  the  Tendai  Sect,  for  Dengyo  Daishi,  too,  had 
worked  out  a  scheme  by  which  he  harmonized  the  claims  of 
Shinto  and  Buddhism.  All  over  the  land  temples  were  built 
in  which  both  the  old  Shinto  deities  and  Buddhist  saints 
and  Bodhisattvas  were  worshipped.  The  two  new  sects 
grew  with  leaps  and  bounds,  so  that  they  soon  overshadowed 
the  old  Nara  sects.  Mt.  Hiei  was  gradually  being  covered 
with  monastery  after  monastery,  and  soon  branch  temples 
of  the  famous  Enryakuji  were  being  built  in  other  parts  of 
the  land.  The  same  was  true  of  Mt.  Koya  and  the  Shingon 
sect. 

Just  as  in  the  Nara  period  so  in  the  Heian  period  Buddhism 
was  closely  identified  with  the  ruling  classes.  Kyoto  became 
the  capital  of  magnificence  and  splendor  that  it  was  largely 


100  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

because  the  Buddhist  monks  who  went  back  and  forth 
between  China  and  Japan  kept  the  latter  country  in  close 
contact  with  the  superior  civilization  of  the  former.  The 
light  of  culture  and  refinement  which  radiated  from  Japan's 
new  capital  in  ever  widening  circles  till  it  reached  even  the 
more  remote  places  of  the  empire  was  strongly  tinged  with 
Buddhist  colors.  What  Chamberlain  says  so  well  of  Japa- 
nese Buddhism  as  a  whole  is  especially  true  of  the  Heian 
epoch  when  he  writes:  "All  education  was  for  centuries  in 
Buddhist  hands,  as  was  the  care  of  the  poor  and  sick; 
Buddhism  introduced  art,  introduced  medicine,  molded 
the  folk-lore  of  the  country,  created  its  dramatic  poetry, 
deeply  influenced  politics  and  every  sphere  of  social  and 
intellectual  activity.  In  a  word,  Buddhism  was  the  teacher 
under  whose  instruction  the  Japanese  nation  grew  up." 
A  few  instances  from  the  time  of  Emperor  Shirakawa  (1072- 
1086)  may  indicate  how  extensive  must  have  been  its  in- 
fluence by  that  time.  It  is  said  that  e.g.  the  Buddhist 
injunction  against  taking  life  was  so  strictly  enforced  that 
"  eight  thousand  fishing  nets  were  seized  and  burned ;  no 
gifts  of  fish  were  to  be  offered  to  the  court;  hunting  and 
hawking  were  rigidly  prescribed,  and  the  hawks  set  at 
liberty."  This  same  emperor  spent  immense  sums  of  money 
upon  Buddhist  temples  and  equipments.  "Besides  5470 
scrolls  or  hanging  pictures  painted  and  presented  to  various 
fanes,  Shirakawa  was  responsible  for  the  erection  of  one  huge 
idol  32  feet  in  height,  127  half  that  size,  of  3150  life-size, 
and  of  2930  three-feet  images.  Then  of  seven-storied 
pagodas  the  tale  was  twenty-one,  and  of  miniature  pagodas 
as  many  as  44,630."  And  what  he  did  so  lavishly  others 
imitated  to  a  considerable  extent ;  so  that  all  central  Japan 
was  literally  studded  with  Buddhist  structures  of  one  sort 
or  another. 

From  this  the  reader  should  not  infer  that  all  was  well 
with  the  Buddhism  of  the  Heian  period.  Though  it  did 
much  to  advance  civilization  in  Japan  in  many  ways,  it 
must  be  admitted  that  there  was  not  a  corresponding  advance 
in  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  the  people.     In  fact,  towards 


KOBO  AND  SHINGON  SECT  101 

the  end  of  the  tenth  century  the  great  centers  of  rehgion 
themselves  began  to  be  hotbeds  of  vice  and  intrigue  rather 
than  seats  of  learning  and  virtue.  The  age  itself,  of  course, 
was  partially  responsible  for  this,  for  it  was  beginning  to  be 
an  age  of  political  disturbances  and  military  conquest  as 
a  result  of  a  complex  of  causes  for  which  no  one  in  particular 
was  responsible.  But,  after  all,  the  Buddhist  leaders  must 
be  blamed  for  not  doing  their  duty  as  spiritual  guides.  In 
truth,  they  sank  to  the  level  of  their  surroundings  and  in 
many  cases  became  the  blind  leaders  of  the  blind.  "By  the 
end  of  the  eleventh  century,"  writes  Murdoch,  "any  one 
of  these  great  fanes  (i.e.  Enryakuji,  Miidera  and  Kofukuji) 
could  readily  place  several  thousand  men  in  the  field  at  very 
short  notice.  Each  of  them  had  become  a  huge  Cave  of 
Adullam,  —  a  refuge  for  every  sturdy  knave  with  a  soul 
above  earning  a  livelihood  by  the  commonplace  drudgery  of 
honest  work.  Each  of  them  had  in  truth  assumed  the  aspect 
of  a  great  fortress  garrisoned  by  a  turbulent  rabble  of  armed 
ruffians.  And  each  of  them  had  degenerated  into  a  hotbed 
of  vice,  where  the  most  important  precepts  of  the  moral 
code  were  openly  and  wantonly  flouted.  .  .  .  And  yet  in 
spite  of  the  foulness  of  their  lives,  the  prestige  of  the  priests 
had  never  stood  higher,  while  the  resources  of  the  mon- 
asteries had  never  been  greater;  and  year  by  year  they 
were  adding  to  their  wealth."  The  ex-Emperor  Shirakawa 
well  expressed  the  situation  in  a  witticism  when  he  remarked 
that  although  he  was  the  ruler  of  Japan  there  were  three 
things  in  the  Empire  beyond  his  control,  —  "the  freaks 
of  the  river  Kamo  (which  often  inundated  and  devastated 
the  capital),  the  fall  of  the  dice,  and  the  turbulence  of 
the  priests." 

Thus  we  see  the  irony  of  history;  the  very  Buddhism 
which  Emperor  Kwammu  had  fostered  in  his  new  capital 
of  Peace  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  old  Nara  sects, 
in  the  end  turned  out  to  be  a  greater  nuisance  and  meddler 
in  the  affairs  of  state  than  the  older  rival  ever  dared  to  be. 
Not  infrequently  did  these  occupants  of  Hieizan  set  at 
defiance  both  the  entreaties  and  threats  of  the  imperial 


102  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

court  itself.  Truly  Buddhism  had  wandered  far  from  the 
path  of  quiet  meditation  and  peace  in  which  its  founder 
had  sought  to  lead  his  followers. 

D.    The  Sects  of  the  Great  Awakening 

But  as  out  of  decadent  Catholicism  sprang  the  great 
Protestant  Reformation,  so  out  of  this  prosperous  and  de- 
generate Heian  Buddhism  came  the  great  religious  awaken- 
ing in  Japan  during  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries. 

What  might  be  regarded  as  a  voice  in  the  wilderness  was 
that  of  a  half-witted  wandering  priest  called  Kuya  who  accord- 
ing to  some  was  really  an  Imperial  prince,  a  son  of  Emperor 
Daigo.  He  went  dancing  from  place  to  place,  repeating 
incessantly  the  Nembutsu  (the  prayer,  Namu  Amida  Butsu) 
by  which  he  hoped  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  people 
to  the  spiritual  side  of  life  which  had  been  so  utterly  buried 
in  the  confusion  and  tumult  of  the  age.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, confine  his  activity  to  preaching  and  praying,  but 
gave  expression  to  his  faith  in  a  real  concrete  way;  for 
he  built  bridges,  improved  roads,  repaired  temples,  dug 
wells  in  barren  lands,  tunneled  mountains  and  labored 
with  his  hands  unceasingly  —  all  with  the  purpose  of  turn- 
ing men's  minds  to  the  better  and  higher  things  of  life.  It 
is  difficult  to  say  whether  Kuya's  preachings  did  more  than 
arouse  a  passing  curiosity. 

A  man  who  indirectly  exercised  a  great  influence  on  the 
generation  of  religious  reformers  which  was  to  appear  later 
was  Genshin.  While  still  a  youth  of  tender  years  he  dreamed 
that  a  priest  gave  him  a  small  mirror  and  asked  him  to  polish 
it.  He  did  not  understand  the  significance  of  the  dream  until 
later  when  he  entered,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  a  Tendai  mon- 
astery on  Mt.  Hiei,  where  under  the  great  priest  and  scholar 
Jie  he  was  led  into  the  deep  truths  of  Tendai  doctrines.  At 
the  early  age  of  fifteen  he  began  his  lectures  on  the  sacred 
scriptures  and  was  greatly  admired  by  the  emperor  who  gave 
him  many  beautiful  garments  as  a  token  of  his  esteem. 
Young  Genshin  was  much  elated  over  this  recognition  and 
sent  these  gifts  to  his  mother.     But  his  mother  was  not  so 


SECTS  OF  THE  GREAT  AWAKENING  103 

pleased  as  he  expected  her  to  be  and  sent  him  the  following 
reprimand :  "  The  idea  of  your  leaving  home  was  that  you 
might  enter  the  path  of  true  enlightenment  and  not  to  gain 
any  profit  or  make  a  name  for  yourself.  Do  not  be  led  astray 
by  these  things.  I  thought  you  would  be  a  bridge  to  con- 
nect this  world  with  the  next,  but  I  am  sad  to  find  that  you 
are  only  a  monk  of  this  world."  These  words  were  sufii- 
cient,  and  the  young  Genshin  turned  his  back  on  worldly 
ambitions  and  gave  himself  to  a  diligent  search  for  the  truth. 
He  wrote  to  his  mother  in  reply  to  her  rebuke,  "  I  regarded 
books  as  bridges  that  lead  across  this  life  {i.e.  learning  as  a 
way  of  success  in  life),  but  now  happily  I  have  entered  the 
Way  of  Truth  through  them."  It  is  said  that  when  his 
mother  was  on  her  deathbed  Genshin  spent  the  last  hours 
at  her  side  leading  her  into  the  joy  of  the  faith  and  trust 
which  he  had  found,  namely,  the  faith  in  the  name  of  the 
great  Buddha  Amida. 

The  books  which  Genshin  wrote  attracted  attention  not 
only  in  Japan  but  even  learned  priests  in  China  were  deeply 
impressed  by  his  learning  and  marveled  that  Japan  should 
have  men  of  such  profound  insight  and  piety.  And  the 
Chinese  emperor,  when  he  learned  of  Genshin's  death,  built 
a  special  pagoda  in  which  he  had  an  image  of  Genshin  placed. 
Genshin  was  not  the  founder  of  a  new  sect  nor  did  he  in- 
augurate any  great  reform  in  the  decadent  Buddhism  of 
his  own  day.  He  remained  a  priest  of  the  Tendai  Sect 
though  he  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  great  church  fathers  of 
the  Amida  sects  which  arose  soon  after  his  day.  This  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  by  his  WTitings  he  helped  lay  the  foundation 
for  the  reforms  and  new  sects  of  the  Kamakura  period.  His 
three  small  volumes  on  Paradise,  the  Intermediate  States 
and  Hell  have  exerted  a  great  influence  and  should  be  of 
special  interest  to  Western  readers,  especially  to  students 
of  Dante.  His  description  of  the  eight  Buddhist  hells, 
each  with  its  sixteen  compartments,  affords  particular 
interest  to  one  familiar  with  Dante's  Inferno.  Genshin 
probably  received  most  of  his  ideas  on  this  subject  from 
Indian  sources,  and  one  cannot  help  but  wonder  whether 


104  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Dante  may  not  have  drawn  from  the  same.  Genshin,  of 
course,  wrote  several  centuries  before  Dante's  day. 

1 .  Ryonin  and  the  First  Amida  Sect.  —  Genshin  was 
followed  by  Ryonin  (1072-1132)  who,  too,  was  a  student 
at  the  Tendai  monasteries.  Ryonin  also  studied  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Shingon  sect,  but  he  felt  that  in  all  his  studies 
he  was  not  really  entering  the  way  of  true  enlightenment. 
Not  only  did  he  himself  fail  in  his  search  but  he  saw  that 
this  was  the  experience  of  other  monks.  All  of  them  were 
so  busy  with  their  much  learning  that  they  did  not  really 
take  time  to  find  the  heart  of  truth.  He  therefore  re- 
tired to  a  quiet  spot  and  spent  his  time  in  reading  and 
repeating  the  prayer  "Namu  Amida  Butsu,"  "I  adore  Thee 
Thou  Buddha  of  Eternal  Life  and  Light."  It  is  said  that 
he  repeated  this  prayer  sometimes  as  often  as  60,000  times 
in  one  day,  thus  concentrating  his  mind  and  heart  on  Amida. 
One  day  when  he  was  thus  absorbed  in  prayer  and  deep 
meditation  Amida  appeared  to  him  in  a  vision  and  said : 
"  Great  is  the  merit  of  Nembutsu  {i.e.  repeating  the  prayer, 
Namu  Amida  Butsu).  If  by  your  own  prayers  you  teach 
others  to  pray  the  Nembutsu,  their  prayers  will  become 
your  merit  and  in  this  way  there  will  be  mutual  benefit. 
This  is  entering  Paradise  through  the  power  of  another." 
This  thought  impressed  Ryonin  very  much  and  so  he  formed 
the  Yudzu  Nembutsu  Sect  (Society  of  Mutual  Benefit 
through  Nembutsu).  He  went  to  Kyoto  with  a  roll-book 
and  enrolled  the  Emperor  Toba  and  many  courtiers  and 
officials.  Afterwards  he  wandered  from  province  to  prov- 
ince enlisting  people  in  his  new  sect. 

The  Yudzu  Nembutsu  Sect  is  the  oldest  of  the  four  Amida 
sects  in  Japan  and  the  first  outward  expression  of  that 
great  religious  development  which  took  place  during  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  It  is  the  first  distinctively 
Japanese  sect ;  the  Six  Nara  sects  and  the  Tendai  and  Shin- 
gon sects  having  been  introduced  from  China.  But  while 
it  is  the  oldest  of  the  Amida  sects  and  as  a  sect  the  first 
Japanese  product,  it  must  not  be  regarded  as  the  beginning 
of  the  Amida  teaching  in  Japan  nor  as  even  a  fair  repre- 


RYONIN  AND  YUDZU  NEMBUTSU  SECT  105 

sentative  of  this  great  division  of  Japanese  Buddhism. 
The  truer  representatives  of  this  type  of  Buddhism  are  the 
Jodo  Sect  introduced  from  China  but  greatly  modified  in 
Japan,  and  its  main  offshoot,  namely,  the  great  Shin  Sect 
of  which  we  shall  speak  presently.  But  before  we  come  to 
these  we  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks  about  the  beginnings 
of  the  Amida  doctrines  in  Japan. 

The  idea  that  one  can  be  born  into  Amida's  Western 
Paradise  by  praying  sincerely  the  prayer  "Namu  Amida 
Butsu"  is  a  very  ancient  one  in  Japan.  To  begin  with,  it 
would  seem  that  the  image  sent  by  the  king  of  Kudara  to 
the  emperor  of  Japan  in  the  year  552,  when  Buddhism  was 
officially  introduced,  was  an  image  of  the  Buddha  Amida, 
and  so  the  Amida  faith  may  be  said  to  date  from  the  very 
beginning  of  Japanese  Buddhism.  This  may  be  stretching 
a  point  and  so  we  lay  no  stress  upon  it.  It  does  seem  true, 
however,  that  Shotoku  Taishi,  the  first  great  royal  patron 
of  Japanese  Buddhism,  expressed  longings  for  the  Western 
Paradise,  and  during  the  reigns  of  Kogyoku  and  Kotoku 
(642-654),  Enon  is  said  to  have  lectured  on  the  Paradise 
scriptures  in  the  palace.  Gyogi  Bosatsu,  the  Father  of  re- 
ligious syncretism  in  Japan,  preached  salvation  through  the 
name  of  Amida ;  and  Chiko  of  the  old  Sanron  Sect  drew 
pictures  of  the  Western  Paradise  and  wrote  an  essay  on  Para- 
dise. Coming  down  to  the  end  of  the  Nara  period,  i.e.  at 
the  end  of  the  eighth  century,  we  find  pictures  of  Amida  and 
his  Western  Paradise  in  most  of  the  head  temples  of  every 
province.  Besides  this  it  seems  to  have  been  the  custom  at 
this  time  to  copy  on  the  forty-ninth  day  after  a  death  occurred 
the  Shosan  Jodokyo  (a  hymn  on  birth  into  Paradise),  and  on 
the  first  anniversary  it  was  the  custom  to  erect  an  image 
of  Amida  six  feet  in  height.  All  of  this  goes  to  show  that 
the  Amida  doctrines  were  more  or  less  known  at  this  time. 
After  this  Dengyo  Daishi,  the  founder  of  the  Tendai  Sect 
in  Japan,  gave  Amidaism  a  prominent  place  in  his  compre- 
hensive system,  and  another  great  Tendai  priest,  Jikaku 
Daishi,  carrying  out  Dengyo's  wish,  built  a  special  hall  in 
which  he  placed  an  image  of  Amida.    We  have  already 


106  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

stated  above  that  the  Tendai  temples  which  were  connected 
with  the  famous  Miidera  give  Amida  the  highest  place  of 
honor.  The  half-witted  priest  Kuya,  as  we  have  said,  went 
everywhere  repeating  the  Nembutsu,  and  the  learned  Gen- 
shin  laid  a  more  lasting  foundation  for  this  doctrine  in  his 
writings.  But  Amidaism  as  a  separate  sect  did  not  come  into 
existence  in  Japan  until  Ryonin  founded  his  society  of  Mutual 
Benefit  through  Nembutsu,  i.e.  the  Yudzu  Nembutsu  Sect. 

2.  Honen  and  the  Jodo  Sect.  —  Ryonin's  conception  of 
Amida's  way  of  salvation  was,  however,  a  very  inadequate 
one.  He  laid  too  much  stress  on  the  idea  of  merit  of  the 
believer,  i.e.  the  merit  of  repeating  the  Nembutsu.  This 
was  really  too  much  of  "a  vain  repetition  of  the  heathen'* 
to  satisfy  thoroughly  the  deeper  religious  sense  of  the  people 
of  Japan.  The  great  teacher  of  Amida  Buddhism  was  yet 
to  come.  This  was  Genku,  better  known  as  Honen  Shonin. 
When  Ryonin  died  in  1132  Honen  was  a  baby  boy  of  two. 
It  was  an  age  of  civil  wars,^^  —  wars  in  which  not  only  the 
Samurai  took  part,  but  also  the  monks  of  Hieizan,  Miidera, 
Kofukuji  and  the  other  great  monastic  centers  of  the  time. 
One  day  the  father  of  Seishimaru  (Genku's  name  as  a  boy) 
was  mortally  wounded  in  the  conflict,  and  the  little  lad, 
reared  in  the  atmosphere  of  w^ar,  attempted  to  kill  his  father's 
enemy.  The  father  praised  his  son  for  his  loyalty  and  cour- 
age, but  in  his  dying  words  he  said  :  "  I  now  die  through  this 
misfortune,  but  you  must  not  take  vengeance  on  my  enemy. 
My  death  is  only  the  reward  of  my  former  life.  If  you 
avenge  my  death  you  will  in  turn  be  subject  to  the  ven- 
geance of  your  enemy's  descendants.  All  living  beings 
fear  death.  As  I  suffer  from  my  wounds,  other  men  suffer ; 
and  as  I  cling  to  life,  shall  not  others  cling  to  life  equally? 
Henceforth  pray  only  for  salvation  for  yourself  and  your 
fellowmen.  Cast  away  all  vengeance  and  malice  and  seek 
to  attain  enlightenment." 

These  words  made  a  profound  impression  on  the  boj^  and 
soon  after  this  incident  he  entered  a  monastery  of  the  Tendai 
Sect  on  Hieizan.  He  was  a  diligent  student  and  penetrated 
far  into  the  various  doctrines  of  not  only  the  Tendai  Sect  but 


HONON  AND  JODO  SECT  107 

of  all  the  sects.  But  in  all  his  seekings  he  found  no  peace  for 
his  soul.  Like  Luther  more  than  three  centuries  later,  Genku 
longed  for  a  deeper  assurance  of  salvation  and  a  more  vital 
religious  life  than  was  offered  at  the  centers  of  learning  on  the 
slopes  of  Hieizan.  One  day,  as  if  by  chance,  he  hit  upon  Gen- 
shin's  "Ojoyoshu"  (Collected  Essays  on  Entering  Paradise). 
A  little  later  he  became  acquainted  with  the  writings  of 
ZenctaDaishi,  from  which  he  drank  deeply ;  for  here  he  learned 
that  man's  salvation  does  not  depend  upon  his  own  strength 
so  much  as  upon  the  grace  of  Amida.  Even  the  lowest 
sinner  may  find  a  way  of  escape  from  this  life  of  misery  and 
suffering  into  a  life  of  happiness  and  peace  if  only  he  has 
learned  to  pray  in  faith  to  the  great  Buddha  Amida  who 
has  prepared  for  those  who  believe  in  him  his  Western  Para- 
dise. When  Genku  read  these  great  words  of  hope,  he  flung 
away  then  and  there  the  ordinary  way  of  salvation  which 
Japanese  Buddhism  had  usually  been  proclaiming,  namely, 
the  way  of  salvation  through  one's  own  wisdom  and  virtue  f^ 
and  he  became  the  prophet  of  the  new  way,  the  way  of  faith 
in  the  mercy  of  Amida.  He  became  the  founder  in  Japan 
of  the  great  Jodo,  Pure  Land  or  Paradise  Sect  (1175)  which 
has  as  its  chief  tenets"  a~semi-theistic  conception  of  God,  a 
doctrine  of  a  personal  future  life  and  salvation  for  all  men 
who  believe  in  the  grace  of  Amida.  This  way  of  salvation, 
it  holds,  was  worked  out  for  man  by  the  vicarious  suffer- 
ings of  the  (divine)  man  Hozo  Bosatsu. 

With  the  founding  of  Honen's  sect,  Amida  Buddhism  may 
be  said  to  have  been  thoroughly  established  in  Japan.  The 
influence  of  Honen's  teachings  soon  became  far-reaching. 
People  from  all  classes  of  society  —  from  the  nobility  and 
the  royal  family  down  to  the  lowest  peasants  —  entered  the 
new  sect.  Priests  of  other  sects,  one  after  another,  began 
to  give  their  allegiance  to  this  new  school  and  helped  spread 
the  way  of  salvation  through  faith  in  Amida.  Among 
Honen's  followers  were  a  great  many  men  of  real  ability 
and  this  naturally  gave  prestige  to  the  Jodo  Sect.  But 
strong  men  are  often  "strong-minded"  men  and  that  fre- 
quently becomes  a  seed  of  discord.     It  was  not  long  there- 


108  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

fore  before  the  new  sect  began  to  divide  into  several  branches 
or  factions,  all  of  which  seem  to  have  had  a  remarkable 
vitality  and  so  hastened  to  spread  the  influence  of  the  sect. 
The  differences  were  usually  very  minor  and  not  sufficient 
to  make  any  serious  break. 

3.  Shinran  and  the  Shin  Sect.  —  There  was,  however, 
one  disciple,  Honen's  greatest  disciple,  namely,  Shinran 
Shonin,  who  thought  that  his  master  had  not  gone  far  enough 
in  his  exposition  of  the  Amida  doctrine,  and  so  felt  compelled 
finally  in  1224  to  establish  an  independent  sect.  This  sect 
is  the  powerful  Jodo  Shinshu,  The  True  Pure  Land  Sect, 
usually  spoken  of  by  the  shorter  term.  Shin  Sect. 

When  Honen  founded  the  Jodo  Sect  in  1175,  Shinran  was 
two  years  old.  He  was  of  noble  birth ;  being  a  descendant 
on  his  father's  side  of  the  great  Fujiwara  family,  and  on  his 
mother's  side,  of  the  illustrious  Minamoto  family.  As  a 
lad  of  four  he  lost  his  father,  and  in  his  eighth  year  his  mother 
also  died.  Acquainted  early  with  the  vicissitudes  of  life, 
neither  his  social  standing  nor  the  luxury  of  his  condition 
could  at  all  satisfy  his  heart.  His  mind  became  more  and 
more  set  upon  deeper  things  and  at  the  age  of  nine  he  became 
a  pupil  of  Jichin,  the  abbot  of  Shorenin  monastery  on  Hieizan. 
He  is  said  to  have  composed  the  following  beautiful  line 
when  he  took  this  step:  "The  heart  that  thinks  there  is  a 
to-morrow  is  as  transient  as  the  cherry  blossom,  for  is  there 
not  the  midnight  wind?"  He  spent  a  good  many  years 
on  Hieizan  studying  the  deep  things  of  Tendai  philosophy. 
He  also  visited  Nara  and  there  learned  what  he  could  from 
the  scholars  of  the  older  sects,  among  whom  there  were  a 
great  many  men  of  real  ability  at  this  time.  So  profound 
was  his  learning  that  he  was  popularly  known  as  "The 
Genius  of  Hieizan"  and  "The  Famous  Priest  of  the  Future." 
He  was  made  abbot  of  one  of  the  monasteries  on  the  mountain 
and  was  in  a  fair  way  of  becoming  a  high  priest  of  the  Tendai 
Sect  and  of  being  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Sansenbo,  the 
3000  monastic  buildings  which  studded  Hieizan,  thus  over- 
shadowing with  his  dignity  the  whole  mountain  and  the 
neighboring  capital  of  Kyoto.     But  like  the  founder  of  Bud- 


SHINRAN  AND  SHIN  SECT  109 

dhism,  Shinran,  having  given  up  all  worldly  ambition  when 
he  first  entered  the  way  of  enlightenment,  was  not  to  yield 
to  the  temptation  of  occupying  a  conspicuous  place  as  a 
high  priest.  He  rather  gave  himself  the  more  diligently 
to  the  search  after  truth  and  to  prayer. 

One  day  Shinran  happened  to  hear  Honen  preach  on  the 
way  of  salvation  through  faith  in  Amida's  great  name. 
After  the  sermon  he  called  on  Honen  in  his  study  and  after 
an  earnest  inquiry  as  to  the  fuller  meaning  of  this  teaching 
he  then  and  there  gave  up  the  old  way  of  salvation  through 
the  Law  (Shodomon)  and  accepted  the  doctrine  of  salvation 
through  faith  in  Amida  (Jodomon).  This  was  at  the  age 
of  twenty-nine.  Two  years  later,  influenced  by  a  vision 
of  the  Goddess  ^^  of  Mercy  (Kwannon)  and  urged  on  by  his 
master  Honen,  he  married  Princess  Tamahi,  the  daughter  of 
Prince  Fujiwara  Kanezane,  thus  setting  an  example  to  the 
Buddhist  world  of  a  new  type  of  priesthood.  By  this  step 
he  broke  down  the  barrier  between  priest  and  layman, 
seeking  to  demonstrate  to  the  people  of  Japan  that  religion 
should  not  make  a  man  live  an  abnormal  life  and  break  up 
the  most  sacred  institution  of  humanity,  namely,  the  family. 
Shinran  also  ate  meat  and  other  food  forbidden  to  the  priest- 
hood, and  in  his  dress  he  conformed  to  the  style  of  ordinary 
citizens  of  the  land.  In  short,  he  lived  as  a  man  among 
men,  for  he  felt  that  religion  has  to  do  with  the  ordinary 
things  of  life  and  should  enable  the  ordinary  man  to  live 
this  life  in  the  best  way  possible. 

It  is  not  strange  that  he  was  attacked  fiercely  by  the  priests 
of  the  other  sects,  for  his  innovations  were  every  whit  as  ex- 
traordinary as  any  thing  Luther  ever  thought  of.  He  was 
accordingly  banished  in  1219  to  the  province  of  Hitachi,  but 
he  looked  upon  this  exile  as  an  opportunity  rather  than  a 
hardship.  "If  I  do  not  go  to  my  place  of  banishment," 
said  he,  "how  can  I  convert  the  people  of  those  remote 
parts?  This,  too,  is  a  blessing  flowing  from  the  master's 
teachings."  After  six  years  the  ban  was  removed,  but  he 
was  in  no  hurry  to  get  back  to  Kyoto  and  civilization.  He 
took  a  roundabout  way  through  the    outlying   provinces, 


110  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

preaching  the  new  way  and  building  temples  as  he  went. 
After  an  absence  of  twenty-eight  years  he  finally  reached 
Kyoto,  rich  in  his  experience  and  confident  in  his  gospel  of 
salvation  through  Amida's  Name.  The  remaining  years  of 
his  life  he  spent  in  writing  and  preaching.  People  came 
even  from  the  distant  places  to  sit  at  his  feet  and  learn  from 
this  great  teacher  how  to  walk  in  the  way  of  Amida's  grace. 
He  died  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-nine,  true  to  the  end  to  his 
determination  not  to  know  anything  but  Amida  and  salvation 
in  his  Western  Paradise.  "  Vain  thoughts  flee  at  the  prayer 
Namu  Amida  Butsu.  Both  the  mouth  which  utters  these 
words  and  the  heart  which  believes  them  are  in  Paradise." 
"When  you  see  the  change  which  befalls  all  men,  arouse 
your  heart  to  rely  upon  Amida."     (Shinran.) 

At  no  point  in  the  history  of  Buddhism  would  a  comparison 
with  the  founder  of  Buddhism  and  his  teachings  be  so  inter- 
esting and  instructive  as  just  at  this  point.  If  the  reader 
bears  in  mind  what  was  said  in  Chapter  I  about  the  kernel 
of  S'akyamuni's  teachings,  the  contrast  between  that  and 
the  teachings  of  Shinran  and  his  sect  will  be  striking.  It 
is  impossible  to  give  here  in  detail  the  doctrines  of  the  Shin 
Sect  and  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  author's  translation  of 
"A  Catechism  of  the  Shin  Sect,"  but  we  must  give  at  least 
an  outline  of  the  main  tenets  of  this  remarkable  form  of 
Buddhism. 

As  we  stated  above,  Shinran  taught  salvation  through 
faith  in  the  Name  of  the  Buddha  Amida  and  rejected  the 
old  way  of  salvation  through  one's  own  wisdom  and  virtue. 
Just  what  does  this  mean  ?  Briefly  stated  it  means  the  fol- 
lowing : 

There  may  have  been  a  time  back  in  the  "golden  age" 
of  the  human  race,  said  Shinran,  when  it  was  possible  for 
man  to  save  himself  through  his  own  strength,  but  in  "  these 
latter  days"  this  is  quite  out  of  the  question;  for  man  is 
entirely  too  corrupt  and  lost  in  ignorance  and  sin  for  this 
task.  There  is  for  him  now  only  one  way  of  salvation, 
namely,  the  way  of  simple  faith  and  trust  in  the  great  mercy 
of  Amida.     But  who  or  what  is  Amida  ? 


SHINRAN  AND  SHIN  SECT  111 

Not  trying  to  give  the  history  of  the  Amida  faith  we  shall 
give  simply  what  is  believed  about  this  Buddha  Amida. 
Amida  Butsu  (Buddha  Amitabha),  before  he  became  a 
Buddha  and  while  he  was  still  the  Bosatsu  Hozo  (Bodhi- 
sattva  Dharmakara)  many  seons  ago,  made  a  great  vow  ^^ 
in  which  he  vowed  that  he  would  not  enter  the  full  bliss  of 
Buddhahood  until  he  had  worked  out  a  way  of  salvation  for 
all  men,  including  even  the  lowest  sinners.  He  remained 
true  to  his  vow  and  after  many  incarnations  of  self-sacrificing 
lives  he  finally  succeeded  in  heaping  up  so  much  merit  that 
he  became  the  great  Amida  Butsu,  the  Buddha  of  Eternal 
Life  and  Light  who  offers  every  man  entrance,  or  rather  birth, 
into  his  Pure  Land  of  Bliss.  There  is  but  one  thing  which 
man  must  do  in  order  to  win  this  birth  into  Paradise,  and 
that  is  to  accept  the  gift  that  is  offered  in  a  spirit  of  simple 
faith  and  trust.  The  believer  is  told  to  call  upon  the  name 
of  Amida  in  the  prayer  Namu  Amida  Butsu  which  probably 
means,  "I  adore  Thee,"  or  "Have  mercy  upon  me.  Thou 
Buddha  of  Eternal  Life  and  Light."  He  who  does  this 
shall  be  saved.  Some  go  even  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  faith 
itself  which  enables  the  believer  to  utter  this  prayer  effec- 
tively is  also  a  gift  of  Amida.  The  works  of  the  Law,  i.e.  the 
good  works  of  a  man's  daily  life,  which  most  Buddhists 
regard  as  a  heaping  up  of  merit  or  good  Karma,  are  of  no 
avail,  according  to  the  followers  of  Shinran.  Faith  in 
Amida's  great  Name  and  that  alone  can  save.  Good  works 
are  not  excluded,  but  they  are  regarded  as  only  expressions 
of  the  believer's  gratitude  to  Amida  for  his  gift  of  salvation. 
That  is,  good  works  are  not  the  cause  of  a  man's  salvation, 
but  they  are  the  effect  of  his  having  been  saved  through  faith. 

The  teachings  of  the  Shin  Sect  in  regard  to  the  way  of 
salvation  do  not  only  differ  widely  from  the  teachings  of  the 
founder  of  Buddhism  and  those  of  the  older  Japanese  sects 
but  also  somewhat  from  the  teachings  of  other  Amida  sects. 
The  Yudzu  Nembutsu  Sect,  of  which  we  spoke  above,  also 
preached  salvation  through  Amida's  name;  but,  after  all, 
salvation  had  to  be  earned  by  a  faithful  repetition  of  the 
Nembutsu.    That  is,  the  believer  made  merit,  or  heaped 


112  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

up  a  good  Karma,  by  repeating  his  simple  prayer  over  and 
over  again.  Then  the  great  Jodo  Sect,  of  which  the  Shin 
sect  is  really  an  offshoot,  also  continued  to  lay  a  good  deal 
of  stress  on  making  merit.  While  Amida's  grace  was  held 
to  be  sufficient  to  save,  still  the  believer  was  warned  to  be 
strict  in  his  observance  of  certain  rules  of  conduct  and  was 
made  to  feel  that,  after  all,  good  works  had  a  great  deal  to 
do  with  one's  salvation.  The  follower  of  Shinran,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  taught  to  rest  in  perfect  peace  of  heart  and 
to  trust  solely  in  Amida.  He  should  not  even  worry  about  his 
moral  condition  or  have  any  anxiety  as  to  his  growth  in 
character.  "Whether  we  are  saved  because  our  sins  have 
been  blotted  out  or  not  we  do  not  know ;  it  is  as  Amida  has 
ordained.  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  it ;  we  have  but  to 
believe."  And  Rennyo,  one  of  the  great  lights  in  the  Shin 
Sect,  says,  "  The  important  thing  according  to  the  founder's 
{i.e.  Shinran's)  teachings  is  nothing  else  than  this  heart  of 
faith.  He  who  does  not  know  this  is  to  be  regarded  as  an 
outsider;  he  who  knows  what  faith  is  has  the  true  marks 
of  a  follower  of  Shinran." 

Now  this  way  of  salvation  proclaimed  by  Shinran,  and  to 
a  certain  extent  also  by  other  Amidaists,  obviously  signifies 
a  rather  radical  departure  from  the  fundamentals  of  S'akya- 
muni's  religion.  In  the  first  place  it  would  seem  that  Amida- 
ism,  at  least  in  the  minds  of  some  of  its  adherents,  not  only 
makes  room  for  a  real  God-idea,  but  this  idea  seems  to  come 
very  near  a  theistic  conception.  In  Chapter  V,  under  the  gen- 
eral heading  of  "  The  God-idea"  and  the  section  on  "  Theistic 
Buddhism,"  we  shall  discuss  this  point  more  fully,  but  here 
we  simply  wish  to  point  out  the  fact  that  in  these  Amida  sects 
the  conception  of  Amida  is  very  much  the  same  as  the  con- 
ception of  God  in  theistic  systems.  It  is  significant  that  the 
Buddha  S'akyamuni  almost  disappears  in  the  Shin  Sect  and 
is  regarded  simply  as  the  teacher  of  the  gospel  of  Amida.  He 
is  revered  as  a  great  man  and  the  founder  of  Buddhism, 
but  he  is  not  usually  held  up  as  an  object  of  worship.  If 
he  is  worshipped  at  all  it  is  only  because  he  is  regarded  as 
an  incarnation  or  partial  manifestation  of  Amida;    never 


SHINRAN  AND  SHIN  SECT  113 

as  the  highest  Buddha  as  such.  As  we  have  just  said,  we 
shall  treat  of  this  subject  more  fully  later  and  show  that 
Amida  Buddhism  is  not  a  real  monotheism,  but  for  the  pres- 
ent we  may  treat  it  as  pointing  in  the  direction  of  a  truer 
conception  of  the  divine  than  is  found  in  the  other  schools 
of  Buddhism. 

Another  fact  about  these  Amida  sects  and  the  Shin  Sect 
in  particular  is  that  salvation  means  the  salvation  of  the 
individual  into  a  future  life  where  there  seems  to  be  a  real 
continuity  and  identity  of  the  individual  and  not  a  mere 
Karma  continuity  and  identity.  The  Shin  Sect  teaches 
that  at  death  the  believer  really  enters  Amida's  Western 
Paradise,  and  to  many  this  hope  of  a  future  life  of  happiness 
seems  to  have  been  a  real  source  of  joy  and  peace.  There 
are  even  cases  on  record  where  men  have  committed  suicide 
in  order  to  hasten  their  departure  from  this  world  and  enter 
Amida's  Paradise.  Others  have  lived  in  such  a  joyful  antici- 
pation of  this  that  this  world  was  turned  into  a  Paradise 
for  them;  in  fact,  Shinran  rather  emphasized  the  thought 
that  salvation  begins  in  this  life. 

A  third  point  of  difference  is  in  the  conception  of  sin 
which  one  finds  in  the  teachings  of  the  Shin  Sect.  Man  is 
regarded  as  totally  depraved  and  beyond  the  possibility 
of  saving  himself.  Sin  is  not  regarded  as  mere  outward 
evil  or  misfortune,  as  it  is  so  often  in  Buddhist  thought, 
but  rather  as  a  condition  of  the  heart  which  may  cause 
outward  evil  and  misfortune.  The  one  thing  necessary, 
then,  is  to  have  a  change  of  heart,  and  this  change  of  heart 
comes  through  faith  and  not  through  an  effort  on  the  part 
of  man  to  cleanse  his  heart  through  his  own  wisdom  or 
strength.  When  Amida  is  received  through  faith  he  con- 
trols the  heart  and  so  uproots  all  sin.  "When  we  firmly 
believe  in  this  vow  {i.e.  Amida's  vow  to  save  all  living  beings) 
and  do  not  doubt  it  for  a  moment,  Amida  graciously  governs 
our  heart.  Our  evil  heart  at  once  becomes  united  with  the 
good  heart  of  the  Nyorai  {i.e.  Amida)."     (Shinran.) 

Thus  in  some  of  the  great  fundamentals  of  religion, 
namely,  the  God-idea,  the  doctrine  of  the  future  life,  the 


114  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

conception  of  sin,  and  especially  in  the  conception  of  the 
way  of  salvation,  Amida  Buddhism  in  Japan  seems  to  differ 
rather  widely  from  the  rest  of  Buddhism  and  the  teachings 
of  the  founder  S'akyamuni ;  particularly  is  this  true  of  the 
great  Shin  Sect  founded  by  Shinran  Shonin. 

A  further  difference,  which  though  it  may  not  be  a  fun- 
damental of  religion  is  nevertheless  of  great  importance,  is 
the  attitude  towards  the  duties  of  men  as  citizens  of  this 
world.  Where  other  sects  divide  the  teachings  of  Buddhism 
into  esoteric  and  exoteric,  or  into  higher  and  lower  truths,  the 
Shin  Sect  divides  its  teachings  into  doctrines  which  relate 
to  salvation  into  a  future  life  and  doctrines  which  relate  to 
a  man's  duties  as  a  citizen  of  this  world.  Buddhism  has 
always  been  exceedingly  other-worldly,  and  from  the  very 
beginning  it  has  held  up  the  life  of  retirement  from  the 
world,  the  ascetic  life  of  the  monk  or  nun  lived  in  some  se- 
cluded spot,  as  the  highest  type.  All  through  the  long 
centuries  the  chief  function  of  the  average  Buddhist  priest 
seems  to  have  been  to  officiate  at  funerals  and  to  take  charge 
in  one  way  and  another  of  those  who  have  passed  into  the  great 
beyond.  The  Shin  Sect,  too,  is  other-worldly ;  in  fact,  it 
has  the  clearest  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  but  it  also  has  a 
good  deal  to  say  about  a  man's  duty  as  a  citizen  of  this 
world.  We  saw  above  that  Shinran  himself  married  and 
lived  the  normal  life  of  an  ordinary  citizen  of  Japan.  This 
was  not  a  mere  accident,  but  it  grew  out  of  a  profound 
conviction  that  a  man  of  religion  should  be  a  model  citizen. 
Household  rather  than  temple  or  monastery  religion  was 
the  thing  the  world  needed. 

This  emphasis  on  the  every-day  duties  of  life  really  grew 
out  of  two  things.  One  was  the  conviction  that  salvation 
has  its  beginning  in  this  world,  i.e.  the  believer  is  even  now 
united  with  Amida  and  so  can  live  in  the  world  without 
being  in  bondage  to  the  sins  of  the  world.  "How  happy 
the  thought,"  says  Honen,  "that  though  we  are  still  here 
in  the  flesh  we  are  numbered  among  the  holy  ones  of  Para- 
dise." The  other  reason  is  the  fact  that  in  Japanese  Bud- 
dhism in  general  and  in  the  Shin  Sect  in  particular  there  is 


THE  ZEN  SECT  115 

much  less  emphasis  put  upon  the  evils  of  our  present  existence 
than  in  Indian  Buddhism.  This  world,  S'akyamuni  had 
said,  is  a  world  of  suffering  and  sorrow  and  therefore  its  hold 
on  us  should  rigorously  be  reduced  to  the  lowest  terms 
possible.  The  Japanese  mind  has  never  accepted  this 
doctrine  fully,  and  the  Shin  Sect,  which  is  the  purest  Japanese 
product  of  all  Japanese  sects,  has  been  least  influenced  by 
it.  It  is  more  natural  for  the  Japanese  mind  to  look  upon 
life  and  the  things  of  life  as  good,  for  Japan  is  above  all  else 
"the  land  of  the  gods,"  and  Japanese  are  the  offspring  of 
"the  sons  of  heaven."  Thus  the  religious  life  cannot  be  so 
very  distinct  from  the  normal  life  of  a  man  as  a  citizen  of 
Japan,  and  any  teacher  who  can  show  how  religious  faith 
and  practical  conduct  may  be  harmonized  is  bound  to  have 
a  great  following.  Shinran  did  have  a  great  following  and 
his  sect  is  to-day  the  strongest  of  all  sects  of  Japanese  Bud- 
dhism. In  fact,  it  has  a  vitality  which  is  rather  unique 
among  the  old  religions  of  the  orient.  Unhampered  by  any 
elaborate  metaphysical  system,  it  seems  to  be  able  to  adjust 
itself  to  the  great  changes  —  political,  economic  and  social 
—  which  have  come  over  modern  Japan,  and  to  continue 
its  hold  upon  the  people  of  this  generation  while  most  of  the 
other  sects  seem  to  be  on  the  decline.  If  Buddhism  has  any 
future  in  Japan  it  will  be  the  Buddhism  of  the  Amida  sects 
in  general  and  the  Shin  Sect  in  particular. 

With  these  few  remarks  we  must  leave  for  the  present 
this  most  interesting  of  all  Japanese  Buddhist  sects  and  pass 
on  to  an  account  of  the  other  great  sects. 

4,  Introduction  of  the  Zen  Sect.  —  Between  the  founding 
of  the  Jodo  and  the  Shin  sects  there  was  introduced  from 
south  China  one  of  the  main  branches  of  the  Dhj'ana  school, 
namely,  the  Rinzai  branch  of  the  Zen  Sect.  The  Dhyana 
school  of  Buddhism  reached  China  from  India  in  the  year 
520  A.D.  when  Bodhidharma  came  to  China  as  a  missionary. 
Bodhidharma  (Japanese,  Daruma)  is  regarded  as  the  twenty- 
eighth  patriarch,  being  in  direct  "apostolic  succession" 
from  S'akyamuni.  With  his  removal  to  China  the  center 
of  the  school  passed  from  India,  and  so  he  is  also  looked 


116  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

upon  as  the  first  Chinese  patriarch.  At  this  time  China 
was  being  flooded  with  Indian  books  and  the  bewildered 
Buddhist  did  not  know  to  what  book  or  books  he  was  to 
turn  for  the  correct  teaching.  Bodhidharma  came  with 
the  message  that  the  true  teaching  of  the  master  was  not 
contained  in  any  one  book  nor  even  in  all  the  books  put 
together,  for  truth  is  too  great  and  deep  to  be  expressed  in 
any  written  or  spoken  word.  Truth  is  in  the  heart  itself 
and  it  must  be  transmitted  from  heart  to  heart  by  a  sort  of 
spiritual  telegraphy;  or  even  better,  the  heart  must  teach 
itself  through  silent  meditation.  The  chief  characteristic, 
therefore,  of  the  Zen  Sect  is  silent  meditation  and  abstract 
contemplation.  The  true  follower  seeks  thus  to  penetrate 
into  the  inner  recesses  of  reality,  into  what  might  be  called 
"the  white  silence  of  Truth.''  It  is  said  of  Bodhidharma 
that  he  sat  seven  years  staring  at  a  blank  wall  and  that  when 
he  was  asked  questions  as  to  religion  and  himself  he  kept 
silent.  And  of  another  Zen  philosopher  it  is  said  that  when 
he  fell  into  the  hands  of  bandits  and  they  tried  to  intimidate 
him  by  thrusting  a  sword  at  his  face  he  did  not  so  much  as 
bat  an  eye  but  sat  unmoved.  No  wonder  that  the  ruffians 
were  themselves  terrorized  and  fled  leaving  this  holy  man  in 
peace. 

Now  this  method  of  approach  to  the  truth  and  salvation 
as  a  resultant  of  the  knowledge  thus  gained  was  known  in 
Japan  from  the  early  days  of  Buddhism  on,  being  introduced 
by  the  high  priest  Dosho  who  established  the  old  Hosso 
Sect  in  this  land.  After  him  Dosen,  Dengyo,  Jikaku  and 
other  prominent  leaders  in  religion  practiced  and  preached 
the  Zen  way  of  salvation.  By  the  twelfth  century  there  were 
a  great  many,  especially  men  of  deep  natures,  who  were 
acquainted  with  this  quiet  way  of  approach  to  the  truth,  but 
still  the  followers  of  Zen  had  never  organized  themselves 
into  a  separate  sect  but  continued  to  remain  in  the  existing 
sects,  especially  in  the  all-inclusive  Tendai  Sect.  Finally, 
however,  late  in  the  twelfth  century  appeared  Eisai.  Like 
other  great  leaders  of  his  day  he,  too,  studied  Buddhism  at 
the  famous  monasteries  on  Hieizan  belonging  to  the  Tendai 


THE  ZEN  SECT  117 

Sect.  He  also  became  a  student  of  the  "Secret  doctrines" 
of  the  Shingon  Sect,  but  finding  no  satisfaction  in  this  he 
returned  to  Hieizan  and  for  eight  years  studied  profoundly  the 
voluminous  canon  of  Mahayana  Buddhism.  An  oppor- 
tunity presenting  itself  he  carried  out  a  long  cherished  wish 
and  sailed  for  China  where  he  studied  for  a  while  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Tendai  Sect.  Here  he  secured  thirty  volumes 
of  rare  books  and  with  these  he  returned  to  Japan,  hoping 
thus  to  find  the  object  of  his  earnest  quest.  A  few  years 
later,  however,  he  felt  again  constrained  to  go  to  China  and 
there  at  the  Tendai  center  he  was  initiated  into  the  true 
teachings  of  the  Zen  Sect.  When  he  started  for  home  his 
teacher  bestowed  upon  him,  as  a  special  mark  of  his  achieve- 
ments, the  Great  Mantle,  the  symbol  of  his  having  mastered 
the  truth  as  known  by  the  Zen  school.  The  Zen  Sect  dates 
its  origin  in  Japan  from  about  the  time  of  Eisai's  second 
return  from  China,  i.e.  about  1191.  In  1201  the  reigning 
shogun  invited  him  to  establish  himself  at  the  Kenninji  in 
Kyoto,  and  later  at  the  Kenkoji  in  Kamakura,  which  city 
became  the  center  for  the  sect.  And  having  its  center  in 
this  military  capital  of  Japan  is  one  reason  why  the  Zen 
Sect  has  always  had  and  why  it  has  to  this  day  a  great  many 
military  men  among  its  adherents. 

Not  many  years  after  the  founding  of  the  Rinzai  branch 
of  the  Zen  Sect  a  sister  branch  of  this  contemplative  school,  , 
namely,  the  Soto  branch,,  was  established  by  Dogen,  or 
Shoyo  Daishi,  with  headquarters  in  the  province  of  Echizen. 
The  chief  difference  between  the  Soto  and  the  Rinzai  branches 
of  the  Zen  Sect  is  that  the  former  puts  more  weight  upon 
book  learning  as  a  subsidiary  aid  to  silent  meditation  on 
the  truth. 

It  is  the  claim  of  the  Zen  Sect  that  it  represents  most  truly 
the  spirit  and  teaching  of  the  founder  of  Buddhism.  This 
claim  seems  substantiated  by  the  facts  in  the  case.  Not 
only  does  the  historic  connection  with  early  Indian  Buddhism 
seem  more  direct  than  in  the  case  of  other  sects,  but  its 
emphasis  on  meditation  and  self-discipline  seems  nearer  to 
the  practice  and  teachings  of  S'akyamuni.     To  be  sure, 


118  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Zen  philosophy  does  not  give  the  Four  Great  Truths  and 
the  Noble  Eightfold  Path  the  same  importance  as  S'akya- 
muni  probably  did,  but  still  it  insists,  as  he  had  done,  on 
the  doctrine  that  man  must  save  himself  through  his  own 
strength  and  must  not  depend  for  help  upon  God,  or  the 
gods.  In  fact  the  Zen  Sect  makes  little  or  no  room  for  the 
God-idea,  or  for  the  idea  of  the  real  permanency  of  the  indi- 
vidual in  a  future  life.  It  has  nothing  to  say  about  an 
Eternal  Buddha,  though  it  does  recognize  an  ultimate 
reality  transcending  the  power  of  the  human  mind  to  grasp, 
which  reality  S'akyamuni  himself,  as  we  saw,  did  not  deny. 
While  S'akyamuni  laid  his  chief  emphasis  upon  the  idea  of 
"escaping  from  the  evils  of  this  life,"  the  Zen  teachings  of 
Japan  lay  the  emphasis  on  the  escape  from  the  limitations 
of  the  present  and  empirical  self  into  the  glorious  liberty  of 
the  union  with  the  Greater  Self ;  without  stating,  however, 
what  that  Greater  Self  is  or  what  the  nature  of  such  a  sal- 
vation might  mean. 

The  practice  of  Zen,  or  Zazen,  is  a  kind  of  mystical  self- 
intoxication  by  which  the  believer  seeks  to  rise  above  the 
world  of  sense  with  all  its  limitations  and  differences  into 
the  freedom  and  harmony  of  the  Reality  which  lies  beyond 
and  in  which  there  are  no  differences  and  jarring  contrasts. 
Naturally  not  all  who  practice  Zazen  pass  exactly  through 
the  same  experience.  With  some  it  is  entering  into  a  feeling 
of  oneness  of  all  reality,  so  that  the  consciousness  of  the  self 
and  all  individual  existence  fades  into  nothingness  and  only 
a  "holy  vacancy"  remains.  With  others  it  may  go  no 
further  than  a  heightened  sense  of  the  oneness  of  all  reality, 
so  that  no  matter  what  loss  may  come  to  the  individual, 
there  can  be  no  permanent  loss  since  the  self  is  regarded  as 
being  really  one  with  the  Greater  Self,  or  the  Universal  Self. 
But  in  any  case,  the  believer  who  has  entered  this  ecstatic 
state  feels  himself  no  longer  bound  by  the  ordinary  laws 
of  our  every-day  experience.  "He  has  ceased  to  think  of 
good  or  evil,  released  himself  from  a  relative  idea  of  wise  and 
common  beings,  given  up  any  discussion  or  consideration 
of  ignorance  and  intelligence,  and  delivered  his  mind  from 


THE   ZEN  SECT  119 

an  idea  of  the  boundary  between  Buddhas  and  sentient 
beings.  He  gives  up  doing  all  works  and  abandons  perceiv- 
ing all  objects,  does  nothing  at  all,  and  abstains  his  six 
organs  of  sense  from  performing  their  respective  functions." 

All  our  ordinary  knowledge,  i.e.  the  knowledge  of  the 
sense-world  in  which  we  make  differences  between  things,  is 
regarded  as  illusion.  Even  our  moral  distinctions  have 
no  value  and  must  be  treated  as  the  product  of  the  unen- 
lightened mind.^^  "The  ancients  say:  'When  illusion 
vanishes,  quietude  will  appear;  when  quietude  appears, 
knowledge  will  arise;  when  knowledge  arises,  truth  will 
make  its  appearance.'  If  you  want  to  put  an  end  to  such 
illusive  thoughts,  you  should  abstain  from  thinking  of  good 
or  evil,  and  without  perceiving  objects  or  performing  works, 
you  should  not  think  with  the  mind  and  do  anything  with 
the  body.  This  is  the  first  precaution  to  be  taken.  When 
illusive  objects  vanish,  the  illusive  mind  will  consequently 
vanish.  If  the  illusive  mind  vanishes,  the  entity  that 
never  changes  will  appear.^ ^  It  always  knows  things  dis- 
tinctly. It  is  not  an  object  of  quietude,  nor  an  object  of 
activity."         * 

In  order  to  attain  this  state  of  mind  which  is  void  of  all 
sense  objects  and  in  which  Reality  Itself  will  appear,  the 
student  of  Zazen  is  given  minute  directions  as  to  how  and 
where  he  is  to  sit  in  his  silent  meditations.  We  can  do  no 
better  than  quote  rather  at  length  from  a  translation  of 
the  works  of  the  founder  of  Sojiji,  one  of  the  two  head- 
monasteries  of  the  Soto  Sect,  from  which  the  above  excerpts 
are  also  taken. 

"As  for  the  place  of  meditation,  a  quiet  place  is  good; 
the  cushion  you  use  must  be  thick ;  you  should  prevent 
wind  and  smoke  from  coming  in,  and  rain  and  dew  from 
moistening  you;  you  should  take  good  care  of  the  place 
where  you  sit,  and  always  keep  it  clean.  .  .  .  The  place  of 
sitting  should  not  be  too  bright  in  the  daytime,  nor  too  dark 
at  night,  it  should  be  warm  in  winter  and  cool  in  summer.  . . . 

"  While  you  sit,  you  should  abandon  the  ideas  of  heat,  will 
and  consciousness,  put  an  end  to  the  thoughts  of  recollection. 


120  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

perception  and  contemplation;  you  should  not  intend  to 
become  a  Buddha  and  care  for  right  or  wrong ;  and  valuing 
time  highly,  you  should  be  so  urgent  in  the  practice  of 
Dhyana  as  though  you  were  trying  to  rescue  your  head  from 
fire.  .  .  .  Shih-hsiang  taught  his  disciples  to  become  like 
dead  trees,  and  Ju-ching  of  Tai-pai  used  to  warn  his  disciples 
against  dozing.  For  the  Dhyana  man  there  is  no  need  of 
burning  incense,  worshipping,  invocating  the  Buddha-name, 
making  confession,  reciting  Sutras,  or  performing  daily 
services;  he  has  only  to  sit  on  in  meditation  and  thereby 
he  will  attain  enlightenment. 

"...  There  are  two  ways  of  sitting :  full  cross-legged 
sitting,  and  half  cross-legged  sitting.  According  to  the 
former  way,  you  must  put  the  right  foot  on  the  left  thigh, 
and  the  left  foot  on  the  right  thigh.  Your  clothes  must  be 
loosely  tied  and  well  arranged.  Put  the  right  hand  with 
the  palm  upturned  on  tliiC  left  foot  and  the  left  hand  on  the 
right  palm.  The  thumbs  of  both  hands  stand  supporting 
each  the  point  of  the  other,  kept  closely  to  the  body. 
The  points  of  the  thumb  must  be  kept  just  in  front  of 
the  navel.  Keeping  the  body  upright  and  sitting  erectly, 
you  should  not  incline  or  bend  the  body  to  right  or  to 
left,  nor  should  you  lean  your  body  forwards  or  back- 
wards. Your  ears  and  shoulders,  nose  and  navel  should 
be  kept  respectively  in  perpendicular  lines.  Your  tongue 
must  be  stuck  to  the  upper  gum.  Breathing  must  be 
made  through  the  nostrils.  Lips  and  teeth  must  be  stuck  to 
each  other.  The  eyes  must  be  opened  moderately,  neither 
too  widely  nor  too  narrowly.  Thus  making  proper  ar- 
rangements of  the  body,  you  should  inhale  and  exhale  a 
few  times  through  the  opened  mouth.  Next,  settling  your 
body,  you  should  move  your  body  from  side  to  side,  each 
time  decreasing  the  degree  of  the  motion,  and  finally  coming 
to  a  firm  upright  sitting,  when  you  should  consider  uncon- 
siderableness.  How  could  unconsiderableness  be  considered  ? 
It  is  considerationless,  which  is  an  important  means  of 
Dhyana  sitting,  by  means  of  which  you  must  forthwith 
destroy  evil  passions  and  obtain  full  enlightenment. 


THE  ZEN  SECT  121 

"  When  you  want  to  rise  from  sitting,  first  of  all  you  must 
put  both  the  upturned  hands  on  the  knees  and  move  the 
body  from  side  to  side  seven  or  eight  times,  each  time  in- 
creasing the  degree  of  the  motion  and  breathing  out  of  the 
opened  mouth.  Putting  your  extended  arms  on  the  ground, 
stand  up  easily  and  walk  slowly  along  the  left  .side  of  the 
room,  ever  turning  to  the  right." 

As  one  reads  these  detailed  instructions  given  to  those 
who  would  practice  Zazen,  one  cannot  but  be  struck  with  the 
contradiction  involved  in  the  means  of  achieving  this  goal 
of  abstract  contemplation  and  the  goal  itself.  The  one  is 
the  most  careful  —  almost  puerile  —  regard  for  the  details 
of  the  sense  world,  while  the  goal  is  a  state  of  mind  in  which 
the  sense  world  has  no  existence.  The  follower  of  Zazen 
may  say  that  this  regard  for  the  detailed  arrangement  of 
the  body  is  only  provisional  and  these  things  vanish  with 
the  illusive  mind  when  once  the  believer  has  entered  the 
state  of  perfect  quietude  and  truth.  Quite  so;  only  then 
it  should  not  be  necessarv  for  one  who  has  reached  such  a 
state  to  return  again  to  an  ordinary  state  of  consciousness 
in  which  the  details  and  differences  of  the  sense  world  seem 
so  very  real.  That  is,  the  student  of  Zazen  should  not  be 
given  any  rules  as  to  how  to  arise  from  his  posture  of  sitting 
in  meditation ;  for  why  should  he  wish  to  arise  and  return 
to  the  sense  world  if  he  has  really  entered  a  state  in  which 
Truth  has  appeared  and  in  which  he  knows  that  the  objects 
of  our  every-day  consciousness  are  illusive?  Obviously 
the  world  of  sense  is  too  real  to  be  disposed  of  in  this  way  for 
any  length  of  time,  and  the  problems  of  truth  and  reality 
must  be  approached  in  another  way  than  by  a  mystical 
self-intoxication  lasting  under  favorable  conditions  for  only 
a  few  hours  at  best.  That  the  "quiet  mind"  is  the  most 
favorable  condition  in  which  Reality  may  be  apprehended, 
no  one  would  question ;  but  it  cannot  be  apprehended 
simply  by  a  process  of  elimination  and  evacuation  of  the 
content  of  our  ordinary  conscious  states.  This  can  only 
end  in  an  abstraction  and  vacuity  which  may  be  a  pleasant 
feeling  to  those  who  would  escape  for  a  little  while  from  the 


122  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

"evil  of  existence"  in  this  "incurably  evil  world/'  but  it 
can  hardly  satisfy  permanently  the  hearts  of  those  who 
would  overcome  the  evils  of  Life  and  enter  a  life  of  a  Posi- 
tive Good. 

It  seems  a  curious  phenomenon  that  a  sect  which  lays  such 
an  emphasis  on  the  contemplative  life  and  which  holds  out 
the  "  white  silence  of  truth  "  as  the  highest  goal  should  have 
always  had  among  its  followers  a  great  many  men  of  the 
military  class.  Even  in  modern  industrial  and  bustling 
Japan  it  is  the  fashion  of  military  men  to  practice  "Zazen." 
Besides  the  reason  already  given  above,  namely,  the  fact 
that  the  Zen  Sect  made  the  military  capital  of  Japan  its 
center  of  activity,^^  there  are  two  other  reasons.  One  is 
that  the  Zen  Sect  has  always  shown  itself  very  friendly  to 
Confucian  ethics  and  made  it  a  part  of  its  practical  teachings. 
From  the  earliest  times  Confucianism  has  been  a  sort  of 
religious  philosophy  for  the  military  classes  and  never  has 
it  been  regarded  in  Japan  as  antagonistic  to  Buddhism.  The 
vagueness  of  the  God-idea  in  Confucianism  is  exceedingly 
congenial  to  the  Zen  mind,  and  the  definiteness  of  the  Con- 
fucian ethics,  especially  the  ethical  teachings  which  deal 
with  the  relationship  of  lord  and  vassal,  formed  a  good 
substitute  for  the  ethics  of  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path.  At 
any  rate,  the  former  were  not  regarded  as  contrary  to  the 
latter.  The  other  great  reason  for  the  popularity  of  Zen 
thought  with  military  men  is  the  fact  that  it  lays  a  strong 
emphasis  upon  self-discipline  and  self-control,  the  primary 
qualification  of  any  true  soldier.  Even  the  physical  disci- 
pline of  a  true  student  of  Zen  is  Spartan,  and  the  mental 
discipline  is  often  such  that  men  become  indifferent  to  all 
dangers  and  face  death  without  a  tremor.  The  capture 
of  Port  Arthur  in  the  Russo-Japanese  war  was  in  part  at 
least  the  fruit  of  Zen  discipline.  For  a  further  presentation 
of  Zen  thought  the  reader  is  referred  to  Chapter  V. 

5.   NicUren  and  the  Nichiren  Sect.  —  There  is  one  more 

Vgreat  sect  which  arose  during  this  remarkable  period  of 

Japan's  religious  history,  namely,  the  Nichiren  Sect  founded 

by  Nichiren  Shonin  in  1253.     Of  all  the  founders  of  sects 


NICHIREN  AND  NICHIREN  SECT  123 

in  Japan  or  leaders  in  things  religious,  Niehiren  is  the  most 
picturesque  and  in  many  respects  the  most  powerful  person- 
ality. He  was  born  in  1222  in  an  unknown  village  of  Awa 
Province.  As  a  lad  he  became  somewhat  acquainted  with 
the  teachings  of  the  Shingon  Sect,  but  later  he  went  to  INIt. 
Hiei  and  studied  under  the  great  priests  of  the  Tendai  Sect. 
For  about  ten  years  he  gave  himself  to  these  studies  and  then 
returned  to  his  native  province  ready  for  his  great  campaign. 
Like  all  great  reformers,  Niehiren  did  not  start  out  to  found 
a  new  sect.  He  began  by  denouncing  what  he  regarded  as  a 
real  perversion  of  the  master's  teachings.  Such  perversions 
he  found  especially  in  the  teachings  of  the  sects  which  were 
just  then  coming  into  great  popularity,  namely,  the  Jodo, 
the  Shin  and  the  Zen  sects.  In  his  Rissho  Ankoku  Ron, 
Nichiren's  chief  writing,  he  makes  a  vehement  attack  on 
H5nen,  the  founder  of  the  Jodo  Sect,  and  upon  all  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  Amida  doctrine.  He  laments  that  the  teachings 
of  Dengyo  Daishi  and  the  older  type  of  Buddhism  were  being 
neglected  and  that  the  people  had  ears  only  for  the  writings 
of  Zendo  and  the  Amida  scriptures.  This  bears  testimony 
to  the  wonderful  success  the  Amida  sects  had  soon  after 
their  coming  into  existence.  The  Zen  sects,  too,  he  could 
not  endure  and  opposed  them  as  the  invention  of  the  devil. 
Even  his  first  love,  the  Shingon  Sect,  he  denounced  as  "a 
traitor  to  the  country." 

The  reason  Niehiren  so  bitterly  opposed  these  other  sects 
was  because  he  felt  that  they  were  dividing  Buddhism,  and 
especially  that  the  Amida  sects  were  taking  away  the  glory 
of  S'akyamuni  and  giving  it  to  another,  namely,  Amida. 
And  on  the  other  hand,  with  a  divided  religion  Japan  would 
be  a  divided  nation,  and  so  both  religion  and  state  would 
be  destroyed.  That  is  why  he  cries  in  one  of  his  impassionate 
utterances,  "  Awake,  men,  awake !  awake,  and  look  around 
you.  No  man  is  born  with  two  fathers  or  two  mothers. 
Look  at  the  heavens  above  you :  there  are  no  two  suns  in 
the  sky.  Look  at  the  earth  at  your  feet :  no  two  kings  can 
rule  a  country."  But  this,  he  felt,  was  exactly  what  was 
happening  in  Japan.     Politically  the  country  was  divided 


124  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

into  factions,  some  giving  their  allegiance  to  the  emperor, 
at  Kyoto,  others  to  the  shogun  or  regent  at  Kamakura.^^ 
Spiritually  some  were  true  to  what  he  thought  was  the  real 
teaching  of  the  founder  and  others  were  followers  of  Amida, 
Dainichi  or  some  other  Buddha.  And  as  the  former  was 
the  real  outgrowth  of  the  latter  division,  there  was  but 
one  thing  to  do,  namely,  to  uproot  the  sects  which  had 
proved  themselves  disloyal  to  the  pure  teachings  of  the 
founder. 

Not  only  was  the  political  and  religious  world  divided 
and  disintegrating,  but  because  of  this  the  nation  was  being 
destroyed,  he  felt.  Evidence  of  this  seemed  abundant  on 
every  hand.  In  1257,  e.g.,  a  terrible  earthquake  shook  things 
from  their  very  foundations.  This  was  followed  the  next 
year  by  an  equally  terrible  hurricane ;  and  as  a  result  of 
these  two  calamities,  famine  and  pestilence  completed  the 
work  of  destruction.  And  still  further,  there  were  signs 
that  what  was  left  by  these  natural  calamities  would  fall  a 
prey  to  a  foreign  invader,  the  Mongols  who  in  1264  had 
established  themselves  in  Peking  under  Kublai  Khan  and 
were  threatening  to  subdue  the  whole  of  eastern  Asia,  in- 
cluding the  islands  of  the  Sunrise  Kingdom.  To  avoid 
this  impending  peril  Japan  must  be  a  united  nation  both 
politically  and  spiritually. 

That  Nichiren  was  not  a  mere  alarmist  is  shown  by  the 
events  which  followed  in  the  political  world.  The  predicted 
invasion  of  the  Mongols  actually  materialized,  and  apparently 
the  only  reason  it  did  not  succeed  beyond  the  occupation 
of  a  few  minor  islands  and  a  narrow  strip  of  coast  line  in 
Kyushu  was  the  timely  appearance  of  a  severe  typhoon 
which  caused  the  Mongol  ships  to  share  the  fate  of  the  great 
Spanish  Armada.  The  proud  Japanese,  however,  prefers 
to  lay  greater  stress  on  the  valor  of  his  illustrious  forefathers, 
who,  he  claims,  were  the  only  people  of  that  age  able  to 
check  the  advancing  hordes  of  the  IMongols  which  at  one 
time  or  another  overran  great  portions  of  the  two  continents 
of  Asia  and  Europe.  Nichiren  was  equally  right  in  his 
estimate  of  the  religious  situation.     The  new  sects,  especially 


NICHIREN  AND  NICHIREN  SECT  125 

the  Amida  sects,  were  doing  much  to  dethrone  the  founder 
of  Buddhism  from  his  place  of  honor;  for  it  is  a  fact  that 
most  Amidaists  regard  Gautama  as  simply  the  great  teacher 
and  not  the  Buddha  to  be  worshiped.  If  he  is  worshiped 
at  all  it  is  only  because  he  might  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
historic  manifestations  of  Amida.  The  Shingon  was  equally 
a  departure  though  in  quite  a  different  way,  as  we  have 
already  shown  above.  Whether  his  attacks  on  the  Zen 
Sect  were  justified  on  the  same  grounds  is  a  question ;  for, 
as  we  have  said  above,  the  Zen  is  nearer  the  teachings  of  the 
founder  in  many  ways  than,  perhaps,  any  other  Japanese 
sect.  But  on  the  whole  Nichiren  was  correct  in  raising  an 
alarm  and  trying  to  bring  his  people  back  to  the  historical 
Buddha  S'akyamuni  if  Japanese  Buddhism  was  to  follow 
the  teaching  of  him  whom  they  professed  to  follow. 

But  while  Nichiren  was  zealous  to  restore  Buddhism  to 
its  pristine  purity  it  does  not  at  all  follow  that  he  even 
knew  what  the  pristine  purity  of  Buddhism  might  mean. 
Both  the  spirit  of  his  religion  and  the  content  of  his  doctrines 
prove  that  he  knew  really  very  little  on  this  subject.  As 
a  student  of  the  Tendai  he  became  acquainted  among  other 
books  with  the  Saddharma-Pundarika-sutra  (Japanese, 
Hokkekyo)  which  he  made  the  main  foundation  of  his  teach- 
ings. As  we  have  already  pointed  out,  this  is  a  comparatively 
late  writing  and  breathes  a  Buddhism  quite  different  from 
the  Buddhism  of  S'akyamuni.  The  great  Buddha  of  that 
scripture  is  the  Eternal  Buddha  of  Original  Enlighten- 
ment with  whom  S'akyamuni  is  identical,  or  of  whom  he  is 
one  of  many  manifestations.  But  the  historical  Buddha 
S'akyamuni  had  nothing  to  say  of  such  a  Buddha,  and  he 
certainly  never  claimed  to  be  identical  with  or  the  mani- 
festation of  such  a  Buddha.  Then  further,  Nichiren  and 
his  followers  lay  great  emphasis  on  faith,  faith  in  this  sacred 
scripture  which  is  regarded  with  a  superstitious  reverence. 
The  prayer  which  is  so  constantly  upon  the  lips  of  Nichi- 
ren's  disciples,  "Namu  Myoho  Renge  Ky5"  (Hail,  Thou 
Scripture  of  the  Lotus  of  the  True  Law),  seems  of  all  "vain 
repetitions  of  the  heathen"  the  most  vain;    especially  is 


126  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

this  true  when  judged  from  the  standpoint  of  what  S'akya- 
muni  regarded  as  the  kernel  of  his  teachings. 

Then  Nichiren's  bitter  attack  on  other  sects  was  also  a 
great  departure  from  the  spirit  of  older  Buddhism,  which 
was  nothing  if  not  tolerant  of  views  that  differed.     This 
tolerant  attitude  was  especially  characteristic  of  the  Tendai 
Sect,  from  which  Nichiren  learned  practically  all  that  he 
knew   about   Buddhism.     This   characteristic   of    Nichiren 
was  not  altogether  a  bad  one,  for  if  there  is  anything  that 
Buddhism  needed  it  was  a  firmness  which  would  enable  it 
to  hold  to  some  definite  things  and  reject  others  that  were 
incompatible.     But  we  simply  wish  to  point  out  that  Nichi- 
ren, in  trying  to  give  Buddhism  some  backbone,  was  infusing 
into  it  his  own  vigorous  personality  to  whom  distinctions 
were  real  and  vital,  and  he  was  not  restoring  a  characteris- 
tic of  the  older  Buddhism.     In  his  Rissho  Ankoku  Ron  this 
comes  clearly  to  light,   for  in  this  dialogue  between  the 
master  of  a  house  and  a  guest  the  latter  frequently  makes 
the  point  that  the  spirit  of  Buddhism  is  one  which  tolerates 
all  views  and  persecutes  none,  and  the  master  has  great 
difficulty  in  proving  from  the  sacred  scriptures  that  heretics 
should  be  opposed.     The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  Nichiren 
was  an}i:hing  but  a  reformer  of  Buddhism.     He  thought 
he  was  one,  but  in  reality  he  was  a  man  who  gave  Japanese 
Buddhism  a  new  turn.     This  new  turn  was  not  in  the  doc- 
trines he  taught,  for  there  is  nothing  new  in  the  teachings 
of  the  Nichiren  Sect,  but  in  the  spirit  which  he  infused  into 
the  new  sect  which  he  founded.     The  very  fact  that  it  is  the 
only  Japanese  sect  which  calls  itself  by  the  name  of  its  founder 
shows  that  it  was  founded  on  Nichiren's  spirit  and  person- 
ality rather  than  upon  any  new  doctrine  or  upon  any  old 
Buddhist  teaching   restored   to   life.     Nichiren   has  trans- 
mitted his  positive  spirit  to  his  followers,  though  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  positiveness  which  made  him  a  towering 
figure  in  Japanese  life,  in  most  of  his  followers  assumes  a 
fanatic  character  which  is  the  enemy  of  all  true  progress 
and  has  made  the  sect,  as  one  has  put  it,  "the  Ishmael  of 
Buddhism." 


NICHIREN  AND  NICHIREN  SECT  127 

Nichiren's  bitter  attacks  upon  the  political  and  religious 
leaders  of  his  day  naturally  led  to  counter  attacks  from  his 
many  enemies.  By  the  priests  of  other  sects  he  was  accused 
of  promulgating  heresy,  and  his  political  enemies  accused 
him  of  inciting  rebellion.  In  1261,  he  was  arrested  and 
brought  before  the  regent's  court  at  Kamakura.  It  is  not 
strange  that  he  was  found  guilty  and  that  he  was  banished 
to  the  peninsula  of  Idzu.  Three  years  later,  however,  he 
appeared  again  in  the  streets  of  Kamakura,  more  out- 
spoken than  ever.  For  a  while  he  was  safe,  for  the  people 
believed  that  it  was  in  response  to  his  prayers  that  the 
heavens  sent  rain  after  a  long  drought.  Like  Elijah  of  old, 
he  mocked  the  "false  prophets"  and  came  off  victorious. 
But  even  so,  it  was  impossible  for  a  man  of  his  temper  to 
keep  out  of  trouble,  and  we  soon  find  him  again  before  the 
regent's  court.  This  time  the  charges  were  so  serious  that 
the  court  felt  constrained  to  condemn  him  to  death.^^  He 
was  led  to  the  sands  on  the  Kamakura  beach  and  the  ex- 
ecutioner's sword  was  about  to  strike  the  fatal  blow  when, 
as  if  by  miracle,  a  messenger  from  the  regent  appeared 
upon  the  scene  and  saved  his  life.  Nichiren  was  instead 
banished  to  distant  Sado,  where  he  remained  till  1272,  when 
he  returned  once  more  to  resume  his  preachings  and  warnings. 
By  this  time,  he  had  won  so  many  followers  that  he  was 
quite  safe.  The  remaining  ten  years  of  his  life  he  spent  at 
Minobu  and  Ikegami,  which  two  places  are  regarded  to  this 
day  as  the  chief  seats  of  the  sect.  At  Ikegami  Nichiren 
entered  into  rest  from  his  strenuous  life,  and  there  is  his 
tomb,  which  is  still  a  sacred  shrine  to  thousands.  Every 
autumn  his  numerous  followers  gather  there  from  all  quarters 
to  do  him  honor.  But  the  thoughtful  student,  when  he 
listens  to  the  deafening  noise  of  those  drunken  worshipers 
—  drunken  not  with  Nichiren's  enthusiasm  and  inspiring 
message  but  with  cheap  sake  —  mourns  the  thought  that 
one  so  earnest  and  on  the  whole  so  sane  should  have  such 
unworthy  followers.  For  it  is  true  that  while  there  are 
some  educated  people  in  the  Nichiren  Sect  the  rank  and  file 
come  from  the    most  ignorant  and    lowest  classes;    and 


128  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

the  religion  which  they  profess,  instead  of  lifting  them  to 
a  higher  and  purer  life,  seems  only  to  rivet  upon  them  more 
tightly  the  superstitions  and  follies  of  a  darker  age. 

6.  The  Ji  Sect.  —  Another  sect  which  came  into  existence 
about  this  time  and  which  we  mention  just  in  passing  is 
the  last  of  the  four  Amida  sects,  the  Ji  Sect  founded  by 
Ippen  Shonin.  Some  hold  that  it  was  first  founded  by 
Kuya  and  that  Ippen  is  the  second  founder,  but  if  it  was 
founded  as  early  as  Kuya's  day  it  made  no  place  for  itself 
before  Ippen's  day.  It  is  of  little  consequence  now  as  it 
has  only  about  500  temples  in  all  Japan,  but  in  its  early 
history  it  promised  to  be  of  great  influence  and  at  one  time 
had  even  an  imperial  prince  for  its  head.  Ippen  Shonin  was 
remarkable  for  his  zeal  in  trying  to  spread  his  message, 
going  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other  to  teach  men  the 
Easy  Way,  the  Way  of  Faith  in  the  Mercy  of  Amida.  He 
seems  to  have  transmitted  this  characteristic  to  his  followers, 
for  the  sect  has  apparently  always  laid  great  stress  upon 
itinerant  preaching.  One  naturally  wonders  why  such 
efforts  have  produced  no  greater  results,  unless  it  be  that 
they  are  reaped  by  the  more  powerful  Amida  sects  from 
which  the  Ji  Sect  really  does  not  differ  enough  to  warrant  a 
separate  existence. 

All  four  of  these  great  sects,  the  Jodo,  Zen,  Shin  and 
Nichiren  came  into  existence  within  a  period  of  about  three 
quarters  of  a  century,  namely,  between  1175-1253,  and 
their  beginnings  undoubtedly  represent  the  greatest  out- 
burst of  religious  life  to  be  found  in  Japan's  long  history. 
The  student  who  reads  with  an  unbiased  mind  this  movement 
and  the  lives  of  the  great  men  who  led  the  way,  cannot 
fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  positive  contribution  made 
by  Japan  to  at  least  one  of  the  world's  great  religions.  To 
know  this  period  of  Japanese  history  will  cure  any  man  of 
the  superficial  thought  so  often  expressed  by  Westerners 
that  the  Japanese  have  borrowed  everything  they  possess 
and  that  they  are  only  imitators.  The  religion  of  these  four 
great  sects  is  as  truly  a  real  development  of  Indian  and 


FOUR  GREAT  SECTS  129 

Chinese  Buddhism  as  is  the  Protestantism  of  Germany, 
England  and  America  a  development  of  medieval  and  early 
Christianity ;  the  only  difference  is  that  it  took  place  some 
three  centuries  earlier.  The  old  Nara  sects  and  the  two 
Kyoto  sects  of  the  ninth  century  had  their  influence  on  Japan 
because  they  represented  a  higher  civilization  than  that  of 
Japan,  but  these  four  great  sects  of  the  Kamakura  period 
gained  their  hold  because  they  were  the  first  real  expression 
of  Buddhism  in  terms  of  things  Japanese,  i.e.  with  them 
Buddhism  may  be  said  to  have  been  thoroughly  planted  in 
Japanese  life.  It  was  planted  not  only  in  the  life  of  the  upper 
classes,  as  was  largely  the  case  with  the  older  sects,  but  in 
the  life  of  the  people  at  large.  It  is  only  natural  that  these 
sects  should  become  very  popular,  and  while  the  old  Tendai 
and  Shingon  sects  continued  to  exercise  a  great  influence  they 
were  relegated  to  a  secondary  place,  especially  in  the  new 
Kwanto  ^°  region,  the  center  of  the  military  rulers  of  Japan. 
Out  of  a  total  of  72,000  temples  in  existence  to-day  over 
53,000  belong  to  the  above-mentioned  four  great  sects,  and 
as  we  shall  see  later,  they  represent  the  dominant  forces  of 
Japanese  Buddhism  to-day. 

Unfortunately  this  reformation  of  Japanese  Buddhism  in 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  had  in  it  also  some  of  the 
evils  of  the  Protestant  Reformation.  It  had  in  it  from  the 
beginning  the  seeds  of  schism  and  divisions.  We  saw  above 
that  Nichiren  was  alarmed  at  the  influence  the  new  sects 
were  having  and  that  he  sought  to  rally  Buddhists  around 
the  one  standard  of  loyalty  to  S'akyamuni  and  one  earthly 
ruler ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  his  efforts  resulted  in  making 
further  divisions  and  in  bringing  in  a  period  of  strife  and 
hatred  among  the  various  sects.  Not  that  Nichiren  was 
responsible  for  all  these  fights  and  divisions  but  that  he 
marks  in  himself  the  tendency  of  the  age.  Any  account 
of  these  divisions,  or  even  the  barest  outline  of  them,  would 
try  the  patience  of  even  an  interested  student.  It  is  enough 
to  say  that  the  process  went  on  and  on,  old  schisms  dying 
out  and  new  ones  taking  their  place,  until  to-day,  Japan  has 
over  fifty  Buddhist  sects  recognized  by  the  government. 


130  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Of  these  there  are  thirty-six  divisions  and  subdivisions  within 
the  four  sects  of  the  Kamakura  period. 

The  differences  between  the  main  divisions  of  Japanese 
Buddhism,  of  which  it  is  customary  to  make  twelve,  are 
often  much  greater  than  the  differences  between  the  great 
divisions  of  Christianity.  On  the  other  hand  the  differ- 
ences between  the  subdivisions  of  a  sect  are  often  very  minor. 
Thus,  e.g.,  the  ten  subdivisions  of  the  Shin  Sect  are  due  not 
to  any  doctrinal  differences  but  sometimes  simply  to  the 
fact  that  some  temple,  harboring  perhaps  a  royal  or  other 
important  personage,  became  thereby  too  prominent  to  be 
regarded  as  a  branch-temple  and  so  was  made  independent 
and  the  center  of  a  new  subdivision.  In  other  cases  sub- 
divisions were  caused  by  the  rise  of  some  great  priest  who 
by  his  own  personality  impressed  himself  so  powerfully 
upon  his  followers  that  they  banded  themselves  together 
into  a  brotherhood  without  thereby  intentionally  cutting 
themselves  loose  from  the  parent  body  but  which  neverthe- 
less in  the  course  of  time  became  independent.  In  still 
other  cases,  the  divisions  were  due  merely  to  geographical 
conditions,  for  in  a  mountainous  country  like  Japan,  before 
the  advent  of  the  railroad,  travel  and  intercourse  were  ex- 
ceedingly difficult.  This  fact  had  made  the  political  divi- 
sions very  real  for  centuries  before  the  advent  of  Buddhism, 
and  these  political  divisions  in  turn  made  the  religious 
differences  very  natural  and  easy. 

Thus  Japanese  Buddhism  is  quite  accustomed  to  the  idea 
of  schisms  and  divisions,  as  indeed  Buddhism  in  India  and 
China  was  from  the  early  days ;  but  it  must  be  added  that 
the  average  Buddhist,  especially  the  average  Buddhist 
philosopher,  sees  in  this  nothing  to  be  regretted,  but  only  a 
sign  of  life.  Even  a  Christian  must  admit  that  schisms  are 
often  a  sign  of  life,  though  frequently  a  misdirected  life. 
The  Buddhist  philosopher  on  the  other  hand  would  hold 
that  because  Truth  is  many  sided  and  men's  minds  are  so 
finite,  it  is  the  glory  of  a  religion  to  have  many  divisions 
each  of  which  brings  out  its  own  peculiar  angle  of  the  whole 
truth.    So  far  do  some  philosophers  carry  this  half  truth 


POLITICAL  STRIFE  AND  RELIGIOUS  DECLINE     131 

that  they  do  not  hesitate  to  regard  the  most  glaring  contra- 
dictions as  but  the  opposite  sides  of  the  same  truth.^^  But 
of  this  characteristic  of  Buddhism  we  shall  speak  more  fully 
in  Chapter  V,  when  we  take  up  the  Buddhist  theory  of 
knowledge,  and  so  we  leave  it  to  pass  on  with  the  historical 
narrative. 

E.    Political  Strife  and  Religious  Decline 

The  wonderful  religious  outburst  of  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries  was  followed  by  a  sad  decline.  For 
about  one  hundred  years  after  the  founding  of  the  Kamakura 
shogunate  Japan  enjoyed  peace  and  a  measure  of  prosperity. 
The  Hojo  regents  who  supplanted  the  descendants  of  the 
great  Yoritomo  were  on  the  whole  strong  and  capable  rulers, 
and  under  their  administration  the  country  was  able  to 
recover  somewhat  from  the  devastating  wars  which  had  pre- 
ceded this  period.  But  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury things  began  to  change  for  the  worse  again.  In  1333 
the  H6j5  regents  were  overthrown,  and  upon  this  followed 
the  long  Wars  of  Succession  when  Japan  had  two  rival  lines 
of  emperors,  and  for  more  than  fifty  years  civil  war  and 
private  wars  were  the  order  of  the  day.  Finally  in  1392 
the  Ashikagas  succeeded  in  bringing  the  land  once  more 
under  one  central  authority,  but  this  did  not  mean  much 
gain  to  the  average  citizen.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  peace 
under  the  Ashikaga  shoguns  was  often  less  endurable  than 
war,  for  the  tax-gatherer  was  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the 
soldier  or  the  plague  and  famine  which  in  those  days  usually 
followed  in  the  wake  of  war.  It  is  claimed  that  in  one  form 
or  another  the  poor  peasants  had  to  pay  about  70  per  cent 
of  the  produce  of  their  fields  as  taxes.  The  money  thus 
extorted  from  the  people  was  not  used  to  repair  the  ravages 
of  preceding  wars  but  was  squandered  in  extravagant  and 
luxuriant  living  by  the  shoguns  and  their  hangers-on.  The 
third  Ashikaga  shogun,  Yoshimitsu,  e.g.,  spent  enormous 
sums  on  magnificent  palaces  and  private  residences.  One 
writer  states  that  his  "Flower  Palace"  cost  about  five 
million  dollars ;   a  single  door  costing  as  much  as  $150,000. 


132  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

In  this  mad  craze  he  was  followed  by  the  upper  classes  who 
could  —  and  more  often  could  not  —  afford  it ;  so  that  the 
city  of  Kyoto  had  at  this  time  between  six  and  seven  thou- 
sand such  extravagant  residences.  Even  when  the  land  was 
stricken  with  a  severe  plague  and  famine,  as  it  was,  e.g.,  in 
the  time  of  the  eighth  Ashikaga  shogun,  Yoshimasa,  when 
in  two  months  about  80,000  people  perished,  this  extrava- 
gant style  of  living  was  kept  up. 

It  is  therefore  not  strange  that  in  such  days  the  heart  for 
quiet  and  industrial  living  was  taken  out  of  the  common 
people  and  that  industry  and  the  constructive  forces  of 
life  lagged.  Nor  is  it  strange  that  finally  Japan  was  so  im- 
poverished that  when,  e.g.,  in  1500  the  Emperor  Tsuchi- 
mikado  II.  died  it  was  forty-four  days  before  enough  money 
could  be  gotten  together  to  defray  the  funeral  expenses, 
while  his  successor,  Nara  II.,  had  to  wait  twenty-one  years 
before  he  had  suflBcient  means  to  celebrate  his  coronation 
appropriately. 

That  this  should  be  a  period  of  religious  decline  goes 
without  saying.  Of  course,  in  one  way  religion  seemed  to 
gain  a  firmer  hold  on  the  people  just  because  of  the  adverse 
circumstances  under  which  they  lived.  Especially  those 
sects  which  held  out  to  the  common  man  the  hope  of  a  speedy 
entrance  into  paradise  from  this  "vale  of  tears"  found  a 
rather  congenial  atmosphere  in  which  to  propagate  their 
doctrines.  In  fact  the  pessimistic  spirit  of  Buddhism  as  a 
whole,  which  was  one  born  in  a  world-weary  civilization 
and  which  regards  life  as  incurably  evil  and  everything  as 
evanescent,  fitted  in  remarkably  well  with  the  temper  of 
the  age.  The  very  woes  of  the  people  became  a  source  of 
prosperity  to  the  unscrupulous  priests,  who  were  usually 
quite  ready  to  exchange  their  "spiritual  treasures"  for 
deeds  to  broad  acres  and  stately  manors.  The  pleasure- 
loving  Yoshimitsu  and  his  successors  were  indeed  ever  ready 
to  spend  goodly  sums  upon  temples  and  temple  decorations. 
Yoshimitsu  was  specially  generous  towards  the  Zen  Sect 
and  gave  liberal  gifts  to  the  five  great  fanes  of  Kamakura 
(Go-zan)  and  the  five  great  fanes  in  Kyoto  and  its  vicinity. 


POLITICAL  STRIFE  AND  RELIGIOUS  DECLINE    133 

He  went  so  far  as  to  direct  that  each  province  should  have 
its  own  great  Zen  monastery.  The  land  owned  by  all  the 
temples  and  monasteries  was  exempted  from  taxation,  and 
many  monasteries  received  funds  from  the  special  tax  known 
as  Dansen.  And  still  further,  certain  ones  received  directly 
the  custom  duties  and  transit  duties  collected  at  the  various 
barriers  which  were  now  being  erected  all  over  the  land. 
Thus,  e.g.,  the  great  K5fukuji  of  Nara  received  the  customs 
of  the  port  of  Hyogo. 

With  such  favors  extended  to  the  Buddhist  monks  and 
priests  it  is  only  natural  that  outwardly  at  least  religion 
was  flourishing  in  this  age  of  bloodshed  and  misery.  But 
a  religion  which  lives  on  the  fears  and  tears  of  its  adherents 
is  not  a  healthy  product ;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  this  period 
of  the  great  Succession  Wars  and  Ashikaga  shoguns  was  not 
great  in  spiritual  realities.  Very  few  indeed  were  walking 
in  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path  of  the  founder.  Not  only  had 
the  Buddhist  layman  wandered  far  from  this  path  but  the 
priests  and  monks  seem  to  have  gone  even  farther  astray. 
Even  the  new  sects  which  had  been  founded  as  a  protest 
against  the  corruption  of  the  old  Kj'oto  sects  had  gone  the 
way  of  all  the  rest.  The  great  monasteries  were  great  only 
as  formidable  camps  of  fighting  monks,  for  the  military 
monk  was  the  order  of  the  day.  Some  authorities  claim 
that  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Buddhist 
priests  were  on  the  whole  the  strongest  political  force  in 
Japan.  This  is  probably  not  an  exaggeration,  for  it  must 
be  remembered  that  by  this  time  all  semblance  of  a  central 
authority  had  vanished.  The  emperors  were  figure-heads 
and  even  the  shoguns  were  mere  puppets,  and  the  various 
feudal  chiefs  were  each  a  law  unto  himself.  And  often 
greater  than  the  authority  of  these  feudal  chiefs  was  that  of 
the  rich  monasteries  with  their  exi;ensive  lands  and  their 
mountain  fortresses.  But,  of  course,  the  priests  did  not 
wield  this  authority  as  a  unit  nor  in  the  interest  of  what 
might  work  for  the  good  of  the  land.  When  they  were  not 
taking  part  in  the  general  civil  wars  of  the  age  on  one  side 
or  the  other,  the  various  monasteries  fought  among  them- 


134  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

selves.  Hieizan,  Miidera  and  Kofukuji  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  doing  this  for  centuries,  but  now  they  were  imitated 
by  the  new  "centers  of  Hght."  Particularly  fierce  was  the 
feud  between  Jodo  and  Nichiren  sects.  Even  the  followers 
of  the  great  Shinran  apparently  believed  in  the  power  of 
the  mailed  fist  as  much  as  the  rest,  for  we  read  that  towards 
the  close  of  this  age  a  great  monastery  of  this  sect  was  able 
to  resist  successfully  Nobunaga's  besieging  army  of  sixty 
thousand. 

But  it  was  not  only  that  the  religious  leaders  of  this  day 
had  exchanged  their  spiritual  weapons  for  steel  swords  and 
spears  and  that  the  foes  they  were  fighting  were  their  own 
brethren  and  not  the  hosts  of  sin  and  darkness,  that  marks 
the  spiritual  decline  of  the  times.  These  "centers  of  light" 
were  guilty  of  far  more  infamous  deeds  of  darkness.  We 
read,  e.g.,  of  the  abbots  of  monasteries,  after  taking  the 
customary  vows  of  poverty  and  celibacy,  spending  their 
days  in  riotous  living  w^ith  lewd  women.  And  the  worst 
of  it  was  that  apparently  nobody  regarded  this  wrong  or 
inconsistent.  In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when 
famine  and  plague  stalked  through  the  land  and  daily  be- 
tween seven  and  eight  hundred  peasants  fell  by  the  wayside, 
it  was  quite  common  to  dispose  of  the  daughters  of  poor 
families  by  selling  them  to  brothels,  while  the  boys  were 
frequently  sold  to  the  priests,  "who  shaved  their  eyebrows, 
powdered  their  faces,  dressed  them  in  female  garb  and  put 
them  to  the  vilest  of  uses,  for  since  the  days  of  Yoshimitsu, 
who  had  set  an  evil  example  in  this  as  in  so  many  other 
matters,  the  practice  of  pederasty  had  become  very  common, 
especially  in  the  monasteries,  although  it  was  by  no  means 
confined  to  them." 

It  would,  however,  not  be  correct  to  infer  from  what  we 
have  just  said  that  Buddhism  did  not  exert  any  influence  for 
good  during  this  period  of  bloodshed  and  misery.  In  fact 
there  are  many  cases  in  which  Buddhist  priests  inter- 
vened with  the  mercy  of  Buddha  to  stay  the  wrath  of  men. 
Buddhist  monasteries  were  often  like  the  cities  of  refuge 
in  ancient  Israel,   and  political  criminals  frequently  were 


POLITICAL  STRIFE  AND  RELIGIOUS  DECLINE    135 

allowed  to  choose  between  the  tonsure  and  the  sword.  It  is 
true  that  the  guilty  occasionally  escaped  thus  from  well- 
deserved  punishment,  but  more  often  the  law  from  which 
they  escaped  was  not  the  law  of  right  but  only  that  of  might. 
Then  here  and  there  were  individual  priests  of  real  power 
who  exercised  a  great  influence  for  good  over  the  rulers  of 
the  day  and  so  helped  guide  them  through  these  periods  of 
storm  to  days  of  peace.  Perhaps  the  most  conspicuous 
case  of  such  an  influence  was  that  of  the  relation  between 
Ashikaga  Takauji  and  the  famous  Zen  priest  Soseki.  Not 
only  did  such  men  give  spiritual  consolation  to  these  leaders 
in  their  trying  times  but  perhaps  more  often  gave  them  real 
solid  advice  as  to  the  aft'airs  of  state.  Soseki  especially 
seems  to  have  tried  to  apply  the  truths  of  religion  to  the 
practical  problems  of  life.  He  sought  to  show  Takauji 
that  mercy,  patience  and  serving  others  were  not  only  the 
expression  of  the  Buddha  heart  but  also  the  quickest  and 
surest  road  to  a  reign  of  peace.  "If  one  rises  above  the 
clouds,  the  moon  can  be  seen  without  an  obstruction,"  he 
once  wrote  to  the  founder  of  the  Ashikaga  shogunate.  Little 
did  he  realize  how  few  would  be  able  to  do  this  during  the 
two  centuries  which  followed. 

Then  again,  should  it  be  said  to  the  credit  of  Buddhism, 
that  this  period  marks  a  wonderful  development  in  pictorial 
art,  viz.,  the  rise  of  the  great  Zen  school  of  painters  which 
has  dominated  the  ideals  of  artists  in  one  way  or  another 
down  to  almost  the  present  day.  Of  course,  such  an  in- 
fluence may  not  have  been  very  far  reaching  in  that  age, 
but  the  fact  that  this  development  of  at  least  one  of  the  fine 
arts  was  possible  at  all  goes  to  show  that,  after  all,  there 
were  individuals  here  and  there  who  had  time  and  taste  for 
the  higher  aspects  of  life. 

But  after  this  has  been  said  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
period  of  the  Ashikaga  shSguns  w^as  in  general  one  of  reli- 
gious decay.  Buddhism  though  outwardly  strong  was 
really  bankrupt  morally  and  spiritually.  Here  and  there  a 
man,  e.g.,  like  Rennyo  (1415-1499)  of  the  Shin  Sect  appeared 
and  tried  to  make  Buddhism  a  real  spiritual  force  in  society, 


136  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

but  the  darkness  of  the  age  was  against  them.  Rennyo, 
e.g.,  was  compelled  to  write  out  the  doctrines  of  his  sect 
in  the  simple  Hiragana  script,  as  not  only  the  lower  classes 
but  also  the  middle  and  some  of  the  upper  classes  were 
unable  to  read  or  understand  anything  written  in  Chinese 
characters  in  which  all  the  Buddhist  scriptures  were  published. 
It  is  true,  some  light  continued  to  stream  into  Japan  from 
China  during  these  dark  days,  but  it  was  rather  faint,  for 
the  Neo-Confucianism  which  was  to  exert  such  a  great  in- 
fluence during  the  Tokugawa  shogunate  had  not  yet  taken 
a  firm  hold,  though  a  number  of  Zen  scholars  had  been  more 
or  less  under  its  influence  from  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century  onward. 

F.   Religion  in  the  Tokugawa  Period 

1.  Reconstruction  Days  and  the  Catholic  Mission.  —  The 
long  period  of  strife  and  bloodshed  of  which  we  have  just 
spoken  was  followed  finally  by  the  great  peace  of  the  Toku- 
gawa shogunate.  By  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century 
the  movement  had  begun  which  was  gradually  to  bring 
about  a  unification  of  the  empire  and  restore  peace  and 
prosperity  to  a  much  afflicted  people.  There  are  three  great 
names  around  which  the  history  of  Japan  centers  during 
these  reconstruction  days,  viz.,  Nobunaga,  Hideyoshi  and 
Tokugawa  leyasu.  Of  course,  there  were  other  great  men 
who  helped  in  the  unification  of  the  empire,  but  these  three 
stand  out  like  great  peaks.  We  shall  not  stop  to  give  even 
an  outline  of  their  lives,  though  it  would  not  be  out  of  place  in 
even  such  a  hurried  review  of  the  development  of  Buddhism, 
for  while  they  were  not  men  of  religion  they  had  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  determining  the  religious  development  of 
the  empire  for  several  centuries.  All  three  were  men  who 
rose  from  an  obscure  environment,  and  Hideyoshi,^-  the 
greatest  of  the  trio,  was  the  son  of  a  simple  peasant.  A 
Japanese  wit  has  well  expressed  their  respective  character- 
istics as  follows :  "  If  you  do  not  sing,"  said  Nobunaga  to  a 
nightingale,  "  I  will  wring  your  neck."  "  If  you  do  not  sing," 
said  Hideyoshi,  "I  will  make  you."     "If  you  do  not  sing," 


RELIGION  IN  TOKUGAWA  PERIOD  137 

said  the  more  diplomatic  leyasu,  "I  will  wait  until  you  do." 
The  nightingale  finally  did  sing  the  song  of  peace  and  unity 
for  leyasu,  but  each  of  the  three  had  a  big  part  in  making 
it  sing.  Their  work  resulted  in  the  great  Tokugawa  shogun- 
ate,  which  ruled  the  land  with  such  skill  and  firmness  for 
about  two  centuries  and  a  half  that  there  was  hardly  so 
much  as  a  dogfight  on  this  blood-drenched  soil. 

It  was  just  at  the  beginning  of  this  reconstruction  period 
that  the  Catholic  mission  under  Xavier  came  to  Japan  in  the 
year  1549.  The  mission  landed  from  a  Portuguese  ship  in 
the  southern  island  of  Kyushu.  The  missionaries  were  well 
received,  for  in  their  train  came  the  merchants  and  traders 
with  guns  and  other  implements  of  war  so  much  appreciated 
by  a  warlike  age.  We  are  told  that  even  the  Buddhist 
priests  received  these  Christian  missionaries  in  a  friendly 
spirit,  for  they  regarded  their  religion  as  simply  one  more 
form  of  the  comprehensive  Mahayana  teaching.  And 
besides,  they  were  not  half  so  much  concerned  with  rivals  in 
things  spiritual  as  in  worldly  power  and  prestige.  It  goes 
without  saying  that  the  Catholics  were  not  willing  to  com- 
promise with  the  Buddhists,  though  they  did  not  take  an 
openly  hostile  attitude  until  they  had  first  ingratiated  them- 
selves with  certain  political  factions  to  whom  they  looked 
for  patronage  and  protection. 

We  find  thus  the  missionary  Froez,  in  the  year  1568,  seek- 
ing an  interview  with  the  great  Nobunaga,  At  this  con- 
ference, apparently,  an  understanding  was  reached  by  which 
the  Catholics  were  to  be  utilized  for  fighting  and  crushing 
the  Buddhist  monasteries,  which  had  incurred  Nobunaga's 
enmity.  We  do  not  know  the  details  of  the  arrangement, 
but  it  is  a  fact  that  Christianity  in  Japan  at  that  time  ad- 
vanced with  leaps  and  bounds  and  that  Nobunaga  in  1571 
exterminated  the  three  thousand  monasteries  which  studded 
Mt.  Hiei.  This  wholesale  destruction  of  the  historic 
center  and  home  of  Buddhism  was  but  the  beginning  of 
similar  operations  against  the  other  monastery  centers  in 
the  land.  By  the  zealous  Catholics  Nobunaga  was  regarded 
as  the  "true  scourge  of  God."     Nobunaga,  however,  was 


138  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

not  a  Christian  himself ;  he  simply  used  the  Jesuits  to  serve 
his  purpose.  His  religion  was  his  own  ambition,  for  he 
built  a  great  temple  and  placed  in  it  a  stone  image  of  himself 
which  he  expected  the  people  to  worship.  But  as  in  the 
case  of  vain  Herod  of  old,  his  self-exaltation  was  speedily 
followed  by  his  downfall.  The  hand  of  the  assassin,  inspired 
by  his  trusted  general  Akechi  Mitsuhide,  brought  his  career 
to  a  sudden  end. 

Nobunaga  was  succeeded  by  his  friend  and  lieutenant 
Toyotomi  Hideyoshi.  Hideyoshi  was  quick  to  conserve 
what  Nobunaga  had  begun.  He  "made  the  nightingale 
sing,"  not  so  much  by  threatening  "to  wring  its  neck"  as  by 
less  drastic  measures,  though  he,  too,  resorted  a  good  deal 
to  the  sword  to  carry  out  his  program  of  harmonizing  the 
nation.  Hideyoshi,  too,  was  not  a  friend  of  the  Buddhists 
and  continued  the  work  of  Nobunaga  in  reducing  their 
military  strength,  though  he  showed  some  consideration 
for  certain  monasteries  which  he  could  use  to  an  advantage. 
He  had  begun  to  suspect  the  Jesuits  of  political  intrigues 
and  in  1597,  he  suddenly  dropped  his  mask  of  friendship 
and  had  twenty-six  of  them  crucified  on  Martyr's  Peak 
near  Nagasaki.  This  did  not  mean  that  all  Christians  were 
put  under  the  ban,  for  later  on  he  entrusted  the  Christian 
general  Konishi  with  a  regiment  of  Christians  to  carry  out 
a  military  expedition  against  Korea,  though  he  took  the 
precaution  to  send  also  some  Buddhist  troops  with  them,  the 
idea  being  that  the  two  groups  would  spy  on  each  other  and 
so  neutralize  their  influence.  Hideyoshi  like  Nobunaga 
made  his  own  ambition  his  religion  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
fact  that  he  erected  a  magnificent  temple  to  the  New  War 
God  which  was  to  be  none  other  than  himself. 

Hideyoshi  was  succeeded  by  leyasu,  the  last  of  the  great 
triad.  Nobunaga  and  Hideyoshi  had  done  preparatory 
work  for  the  unification  of  the  empire,  leyasu  consummated 
and  consolidated  it.  He  had  but  one  great  battle  to  fight, 
namely,  the  famous  battle  of  Sekigahara,  and  then  he  could 
wait  till  the  "nightingale  sang"  its  song  of  peace.  And 
sing  it  did,  for  leyasu  became  the  founder  of  the  illustrious 


RELIGION  IN  TOKUGAWA  PERIOD  139 

Tokugawa  shogunate  which  gave  peace  and  order  to  Japan 
for  more  than  250  years.  The  emperor  at  Kyoto  was  allowed 
the  nominal  rule  of  the  empire  but  it  is  an  open  secret  that 
the  shogun's  word  at  Yedo  (Tokyo)  was  supreme,  and  when 
Commodore  Perry  opened  the  closed  doors  of  Japan  in 
1853  it  was  with  the  shogun  that  he  dealt  as  the  real  ruler 
of  the  land.  The  relative  power  of  emperor  and  shogun 
may  be  best  appreciated  when  it  is  remembered  that  the 
annual  appropriation  for  the  royal  family  and  its  dependents 
was  only  150,000  koku  of  rice  and  this  was  not  taken  di- 
rectly from  the  national  revenue  but  was  given  by  the 
shogun  out  of  his  own  fat  income  of  4,000,000  per  year, 

leyasu's  attitude  toward  religion  differed  from  that  of 
his  two  predecessors  in  that  he  was  himself  a  professing 
Buddhist  and  took  a  more  or  less  active  interest  in  religious 
reform.  Whether  he  was  really  a  religious  man  is  another 
question.  The  truth  of  the  matter  seems  to  be  that  he  was 
very  liberal  in  his  views  and  looked  upon  organized  religion 
as  a  force  that  might  help  him  in  the  affairs  of  state,  for 
leyasu  was  above  all  else  a  shrewd  statesman.  That  is  why 
he  was  so  intimate  with  the  priest  Tenkai  who  became  his 
right  hand  man  to  control  not  only  the  Christians  but  also 
the  Buddhists  themselves.  And  that  is  also  why  he  encour- 
aged the  revival  of  Confucianism  in  Japan,  for  he  saw  in 
the  Confucian  philosophy  of  state  and  its  emphasis  on  the 
spirit  of  loyalty  a  desirable  force  to  help  him  in  his  great 
work  of  national  unification. 

2.  The  Closing  of  the  Doors  and  the  Suppression  of  Chris- 
tianity. —  It  may  seem  strange  at  first  sight  that  a  man  so 
liberal  minded  should  be  the  one  who  closed  the  doors  of 
Japan  to  the  outside  world.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is 
that  this  policy  which  seems  so  narrow  to  us  moderns  was 
really  in  the  interest  of  peace  and  order.  The  only  mistake 
was  that  the  doors  were  kept  closed  so  long  after  the  danger 
which  leyasu  sought  to  avoid  had  passed.  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  if  his  successors  had  been  as  open  minded  as  he  was 
they  would  have  changed  the  policy  long  before  they  actually 
did.     leyasu's  reason  for  cutting  Japan  off  from  the  outside 


140  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

world  was  simply  to  enable  him  to  consolidate  his  work  of 
unification.  He  did  not  wish  any  disturbing  element  to 
come  in  from  the  outside  and  upset  the  peace  that  had  been 
bought  at  such  great  cost.  Too  long  had  Japan  bled  from 
the  wounds  of  discord.  Now  Christianity  was  undoubtedly 
a  foreign  element  and  in  the  form  in  which  it  had  been  prop- 
agated in  Japan  from  the  beginning  it  meddled  entirely 
too  much  with  the  things  that  belong  to  Caesar  to  be  allowed 
with  impunity.  The  Buddhists,  of  course,  meddled  even 
more  than  did  the  Christians  but  Buddhism  had  been  the 
religion  of  the  people  for  centuries  and  could  not  be  opposed 
too  much.  It  was  enough  to  regulate  it  through  the  priests 
themselves.  But  Christianity  was  a  new  outside  element 
and  if  it  was  not  willing  to  be  merged  in  the  national  religion 
of  the  land  there  was  but  one  thing  left,  namely  to  exter- 
minate it.  An  additional  reason  for  this  attitude  towards 
Christianity  was  the  fact  that  the  Jesuits  were  the  real 
agents  of  the  pope  at  Rome  and  that  all  true  disciples  were 
called  upon  to  regard  the  pope  as  not  only  the  spiritual 
head  but  as  also  superior  to  earthly  rulers  in  temporal 
matters.  It  is  only  natural  that  leyasu  should  see  in  the 
rising  Catholic  church  in  Japan  the  seed  of  future  political 
troubles. 

We  find  accordingly  that  step  by  step  the  regulations 
against  Christianity  became  more  and  more  severe  until 
it  was  positively  forbidden  by  law  after  1611.  Whereas 
under  Nobunaga's  regime  the  Catholics  were  used  as  an 
instrument  to  fight  Buddhist  monasteries,  leyasu  turned 
the  tables  and  used  the  Buddhist  monks  to  suppress  Chris- 
tianity. In  every  city  and  village  of  the  land  certain  officials 
were  set  over  well-defined  districts,  their  sole  duty  being  to 
spy  out  those  suspected  of  being  Christians.  (It  is  an  inter- 
esting fact  that  the  second  man  to  become  a  bishop  in  the 
Japan  Methodist  Church,  Bishop  Hiraiwa,  is  the  son  of 
such  an  official,  the  office  having  been  hereditary  in  the 
family  for  several  generations.) 

The  story  of  the  suppression  of  Christianity  in  Japan  has 
been  told  by  others  and  we  need  not  repeat  it  here.     We 


RELIGION  IN  TOKUGAWA  PERIOD  141 

simply  state  that  after  the  first  severe  persecutions  the 
majority  of  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  the 
nominal  Christians  who  became  such  in  the  period  of  govern- 
mental patronage  recanted  and  entered  the  Buddhist  ranks. 
One  of  the  requirements  of  the  day  was  the  registration  of 
every  Japanese  citizen  as  an  adherent  of  one  of  the  Buddhist 
sects.  This,  we  might  remark  in  passing,  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  to  this  day  the  great  majority  of  the  people  regard 
themselves  as  Buddhists,  though  as  individuals  they  may 
not  care  a  fig  for  the  religion  or  know  the  barest  outline  of 
Buddhist  teachings.  But  not  all  these  Catholic  Christians 
recanted.  Many  of  them  died  the  martyr's  death,  and  in 
spite  of  the  closest  watch  on  the  part  of  the  government  for 
250  years  Christianity  kept  cropping  up  again  and  again. 
There  are  many  people  still  living  who  saw  the  edict  boards 
against  Christianity  along  the  highways  of  the  empire ;  and 
the  brass  crosses  worn  smooth  by  the  feet  of  those  who  thus 
proved  that  they  were  not  Christians,  may  be  seen  in  the 
museums  of  the  nation.  But  when  the  edicts  were  finally 
taken  down  there  were  several  thousand  Christians  in  and 
around  Nagasaki  who  had  kept  the  faith.  And  in  other 
parts  of  the  land  there  are  Christians  in  whose  families 
precious  Christian  relics  have  been  handed  down  in  secret 
from  generation  to  generation. 

3.  Partial  Revival  of  Buddhism.  —  We  have  said  above 
that  the  Buddhists  were  used  as  an  instrument  of  the  govern- 
ment to  suppress  Christianity.  This  does  not  mean,  how- 
ever, that  Buddhism  under  the  Tokugawa  shoguns  ever  got 
back  its  former  vitality  or  even  its  outward  prestige. ^^  The 
truth  of  the  matter  is  that  the  blow  which  Nobunaga  dealt 
to  the  famous  Tendai  monastery  on  Mt.  Hiei  proved  almost 
fatal.  And  as  Mt.  Hiei  was  really  the  mother  of  all  the  great 
leaders  who  founded  the  leading  sects  this  blow  proved 
serious  to  Japanese  Buddhism  as  a  whole.  All  the  more 
serious  was  it  for  the  religion  of  Buddha  when  it  is  remembered 
that  other  great  centers  of  the  faith  were  equally  disturbed 
during  the  stormy  times  that  preceded  the  great  calm. 

After  peace  was  restored  and  prosperity  and  culture  began 


142  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

to  return,  Buddhism,  too,  recovered  somewhat  from  the 
shock.  In  almost  every  one  of  the  leading  sects  appeared 
men  of  real  ability  and  character.  It  is  therefore  customary 
among  Buddhist  writers  to  speak  of  the  "Middle  Re- 
formers," i.e.  the  men  who  after  the  devastating  wars  of 
the  Ashikaga  period  brought  new  prosperity  to  the  various 
sects.  Thus,  e.g.  the  Tendai  Sect,  while  crushed  in  and 
around  Kyoto,  began  to  show  new  activity  in  the  Kwanto 
with  Nikko  and  Yedo  as  centers.  In  the  Shingon  Sect  we 
see  the  New  School  party  growing  in  power  and  influence. 
The  Rinzai  and  Soto  branches  of  the  Zen  Sect  had  suffered 
most  severely  from  the  wars,  for  as  we  have  said,  these 
sects  had  a  great  many  military  men  as  adherents,  and  the 
old  law  that  he  that  takes  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the  sword 
held  good  in  Japan  as  truly  as  elsewhere.  But  when  peace 
was  restored  these  sects  became  quite  flourishing,  especially 
in  outward  things,  for  it  was  the  fashion  of  the  day  among 
the  various  feudal  lords  who  were  usually  military  men  to 
bestow  much  property  upon  Zen  temples  and  monasteries. 
The  Jodo  Sect  seemed  specially  favored  from  time  to  time 
by  the  Tokugawa  shoguns  and  it  recovered  much  of  its 
former  glory,  having  among  its  strong  temples  such  places 
as  the  famous  Chionin  of  Kyoto  and  the  Zojoji  of  Tokyo, 
and  counting  among  its  priests  many  men  of  real  ability. 
And  what  is  true  of  the  Jodo  is  equally  true  of  the  Shin 
Sect.  Its  great  temples  built  in  the  modern  period  and  some 
during  the  past  few  decades  are  numerous.  The  head- 
quarters of  the  two  Hongwanji  branches  in  Kyoto  are 
especially  a  credit  as  magnificent  specimens  of  temple 
architecture.  The  Nichiren  Sect,  too,  had  its  reformers 
and  shared  with  others  a  certain  degree  of  prosperity  during 
the  peaceful  days  of  the  Tokugawa  period. 

This  day  of  renewals  saw  even  the  introduction  of  a  new 
sect  from  China,  namely,  the  Obaku  branch  of  the  Zen  Sect 
founded  in  1659  by  a  Chinese  priest  named  Ingen  and  by 
Chinese  refugees  who  came  to  Japan  after  the  fall  of  the 
Ming  dynasty.  This  sect  has  never  attracted  many  ad- 
herents but  it  has  exerted  a  great  influence  and  counts 


RELIGION  IN  TOKUGAWA  PERIOD  143 

among  its  few  followers  a  number  of  the  strongest  men  of 
Japan.  The  distinguishing  feature  of  the  sect  is  its  use  of 
modern  Chinese  for  its  scriptures  whereas  other  sects  still 
use  the  ancient  Chinese,  though  in  very  recent  years  they 
have  begun  to  use  Japanese  translations  for  the  general  public. 

But  after  all  this  has  been  said  about  the  renewal  of  Bud- 
dhism during  the  Tokugawa  period  it  cannot  be  held  that 
the  religion  of  Buddha  ever  reached  again  the  heights  it 
had  attained  during  the  great  period  of  religious  awakening 
in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  In  spite  of  this 
outward  prosperity  and  activity  which  led  in  some  cases  to 
the  formation  of  new  subdivisions,  the  period  as  a  whole 
cannot  be  regarded  as  a  great  period  for  Buddhism  as  far 
as  real  spiritual  influence  and  strength  is  concerned.  The 
truth  of  the  matter  is  that  the  springs  of  the  spiritual  life 
for  this  age  were  really  outside  of  Buddhism,  namely,  in 
Confucianism. 

4.  Neo-Confucianism.  —  Confucian  thought  had  influenced 
Japan  from  the  earliest  days  —  even  before  Buddhism 
w^as  introduced  during  the  sixth  century.  But  while  this 
is  true  it  cannot  be  said  that  Confucianism  before  the 
Tokugawa  age  was  ever  the  dominant  life-current  in  this 
land.  It  was  rather  like  a  number  of  minor  tributaries 
which  fed  the  main  stream ;  particularly  was  its  influence 
felt  in  the  realm  of  practical  ethics.  In  fact,  as  we  have  said 
before,  much  of  the  ethical  teachings  of  Japanese  Buddhism 
is  really  only  a  restatement  of  Confucian  ethics.  That  is, 
the  strongest  influence  which  Confucianism  exerted  on  Japan 
before  the  Tokugawa  age  was  exerted  through  Buddhism. 

Now  it  is  a  peculiar  coincident  that  at  the  very  time  when 
Buddhism  in  Japan  burst  forth  into  the  four  great  sects  of 
the  Kamakura  period,  namely,  the  rise  of  the  Jodo,  Zen, 
Shin  and  Nichiren  sects,  Confucianism  in  China  was  being 
reshaped  in  the  Xeo-Confucian  schools  of  Shushi  (Chinese, 
Chu  Hi  1130-1200)  and  Oydmei  (Chinese,_  Wang-Yang- 
Ming  1472-1528).  The  foundations  for  the  Oyomei  school 
were  really  laid  by  Riku-Shosan  (1042-1094),  and  so  while 
Oyomei,  who  gave  the  school  its  permanent  influence,  belongs 


144  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

to  a  little  later  period  we  may  say  that  these  Neo-Confucian 
schools  arose  about  the  time  of  the  great  Buddhist  awaken- 
ing in  Japan,  It  was  this  type  of  Confucianism  which  was 
to  overshadow  Buddhism  during  the  Tokugawa  period. 
Particularly  was  the  Shushi  school  to  become  the  dominant 
force  in  the  official  world  of  Japan,  for  it  was  made  the 
authorized  system  of  education  by  leyasu  and  became  so 
firmly  entrenched  that  any  one  opposing  its  teachings  was 
regarded  as  a  traitor  to  the  state. 

This  reshaping  of  Confucianism  in  China  into  the  Shushi 
and  Oyomei  schools  was  really  more  than  a  restatement  of 
an  old  system ;  it  was  in  fact  a  syncretism  of  Confucianism 
and  Buddhism.  Eyen  as  early  as  the  days  of  Mencius  and 
a  little  later  Confucianism  was  being  strongly  influenced  by 
Taoism.  That  is,  Confucian  scholars,  while  clinging  to  the 
practical  ethics  of  the  Five  Relations,  began  to  seek  for  a 
metaphysical  and  religious  basis  for  their  ethics.  Then  with 
the  coming  of  the  Zen  philosophy  in  the  sixth  century 
A.D.  and  the  general  development  of  Mahayana  Buddhism 
in  China,  the  movement  in  Confucianism  from  the  external 
and  formal  to  the  internal  and  spiritual  continued.  This 
was  the  period  when  Chinese  Buddhism  took  up  into  itself 
much  of  the  practical  teachings  of  Confucianism  which  have 
ever  since  constituted  the  practical  ethics  found  in  Chinese 
and  Japanese  Buddhism.  But  not  until  the  days  of  Riku- 
Shosan,  Shushi  and  Oyomei  did  Confucianism  develop  a 
real  metaphysical  and  religious  basis  for  its  teachings. 
These  philosophers  and  their  followers  were  always  talking 
about  the  "Ri"  and  the  "Ki"  and  the  relation  between  the 
two.  That  is,  where  the  older  Confucianism  was  always 
talking  about  the  human  relations  these  Neo-Confucianists 
were  more  concerned  with  the  problem  of  the  relation  of 
the  human  to  the  divine,  of  the  finite  to  the  infinite,  of  the 
phenomenal  world  to  the  noumenal  world.  The  "Ri" 
becomes  in  Confucianism  what  the  "Tao,"  or  Way,  was  in 
Taoism,  and  what  the  Eternal  and  Monistic  Substance  or 
the  Rational  Principle  was  in  Mahayana  Buddhism.  And 
the  "Ki"  in  Confucianism  takes  very  much  the  same  place 


RELIGION  IN  TOKUGAWA  PERIOD  145 

which  the  transitory  and  phenomenal  world  occupies  in 
Buddhism.  The  chief  difference  is  that  the  "Ri"  in  Con- 
fucianism is  usually  more  than  a  mere  Rational  Principle 
but  frequently  has  a  moral  quality.  That  is,  it  is  the  per- 
sonification of  Moral  Wisdom  rather  than  the  personification 
of  mere  Reason.  In  some  writers  the  conception  of  this 
Moral  Wisdom  approaches  very  near  the  conception  of  a 
personal  God,  though  in  others  it  remains  rather  pantheistic. 
And  as  the  Absolute  is  thought  of  in  terms  of  Moral  Wisdom 
rather  than  mere  Reason,  the  relation  of  man  to  the  Absolute 
is  also  thought  of  more  as  a  moral  relation,  i.e.  man's  chief 
duty  is  expressed  in  terms  of  righteous  conduct  rather  than 
in  terms  of  right  knowledge,  as  is  usually  the  case  in  Bud- 
dhism. 

W^hile  these  two  Neo-Confucian  schools  are  alike  in  that 
both  are  the  expression  of  a  union  of  Confucian  and  Buddhist 
thought,  they  differ  somewhat  from  each  other  in  other 
respects.  The  Shushi  school  regards  itself  as  a  true  trans- 
mitter of  orthodox  Confucianism  and  consequently  lays  a 
great  deal  of  stress  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  classics  and 
erudition  in  general.  The  Oyomei  school,  on  the  other  hand, 
while  claiming  to  be  a  follower  of  Confucius  in  spirit,  is 
more  free  in  what  it  regards  as  orthodox.  It  lays  not  so 
much  stress  upon  erudition  as  upon  intuitive  knowledge.  Very 
much  like  the  Zen  Sect  in  Buddhism,  which  holds  that  the 
true  teaching  of  the  master  is  transmitted  from  heart  to 
heart  and  not  through  books,  so  the  Oyomei  school  holds 
that  books  are  only  guideposts  to  the  truth  and  that  the  heart 
must  find  the  truth  in  itself.  Or  as  Kumazawa  Banzan, 
one  of  the  chief  representatives  of  the  Oj'omei  school  in 
Japan,  has  so  well  put  it  when  he  compared  books  and  the 
teachings  of  wise  men  of  the  past  to  the  foot  prints  of  a 
rabbit  which  one  wishes  to  catch.  Obviously  the  foot 
prints  are  a  help  in  catching  the  rabbit,  but  they  are  not  the 
rabbit  itself.  But  if  one  has  once  caught  the  rabbit  the  foot 
prints  are  no  longer  necessary.  Where  Shushi  said,  know 
before  you  act  (and  by  knowing  he  meant  a  knowledge  of 
what  wise  men  of  the  past  have  said),  Oyomei  said  that  one 


146  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

can  know  fully  only  as  one  acts.  Both  schools  lay  emphasis 
on  practical  moral  wisdom,  but  the  one  looks  upon  trans- 
mitted knowledge  as  a  guide  to  conduct  and  the  other 
rather  emphasizes  the  mutual  influence  of  knowledge  and 
action  which  alone  gives  true  wisdom. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  give  here  a  detailed  account  of  the 
introduction  of  this  Neo-Conf  ucianism,  nor  of  its  real  place  in 
the  life  of  Japan.  As  already  stated  before,  it  was  brought 
in  gradually  by  priests  of  the  Zen  Sect  who  have  always 
been  among  its  chief  exponents.  The  first  representatives 
seem  to  have  been  two  Chinese  Buddhist  scholars,  Sogen 
and  Ichizan,  the  former  coming  to  Japan  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  These  were  followed  by  other 
Chinese  teachers  and  by  Japanese  scholars  who  studied  in 
China,  but  the  political  strife  and  bloodshed  which  caused 
Buddhism  to  degenerate  in  Japan  also  kept  Confucianism 
from  gaining  much  of  a  hold.  It  was  not  therefore  until 
the  famous  trio,  Nobunaga,  Hideyoshi  and  leyasu,  had 
restored  peace  that  Neo-Confucianism  became  fully  es- 
tablished in  the  person  of  the  scholarly  Fujiwara  Seigwa 
(1561-1610)  who  is  usually  regarded  as  the  first  real  exponent 
of  the  Shushi  school  in  Japan.  He  was  followed  by  Hayashi 
Razan  (1583-1672),  also  a  descendant  of  the  great  Fujiwara 
family.  Both  these  illustrious  scholars  had  been  Buddhist 
scholars  and  the  latter  became  a  Buddhist  priest  after 
retiring  from  his  position  in  the  Tokugawa  government. 
His  opposition  to  Christianity  was  pronounced  and  the  ac- 
count of  his  interview  with  one  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries 
is  of  special  interest  to  the  student  of  Christianity  in  Japan. 
Other  great  lights  regarded  as  disciples  of  the  Shushi  school 
in  Japan  are  such  men  as  the  scholarly  Muro  Kyuso,  the 
famous  educator  Kaibara  Ekiken,  Yamazaki  Anzai  and  a 
whole  host  of  strong  and  earnest  men. 

Just  as  the  Shushi  school  had  been  recognized  in  China  as 
the  orthodox  school  by  the  government  during  the  Ming 
era  (1402-1644),  so  it  was  made,  as  we  have  said  above,  the 
authorized  system  of  education  by  the  Tokugawa  sh5guns. 
leyasu  and  his  successors  encouraged  this  teaching  because 


RELIGION  IN  TOKUGAWA  PERIOD  147 

of  its  great  emphasis  on  loyalty  and  obedience  which  a  sub- 
ject owed  to  the  ruling  powers.  So  general  became  this 
teaching  and  so  deeply  was  it  planted  into  the  Japanese 
mind  that  we  see  its  effect  to  this  day  in  the  intense  loyalty 
and  patriotism  so  characteristic  of  the  people  of  Japan.  In 
fact,  it  was  the  spirit  of  this  teaching  so  zealously  fostered 
by  the  Tokugawa  shoguns  which  finally,  in  the  teachings 
of  the  ]\Iito  branch  of  the  Shushi  school,  resulted  in  the  over- 
throw of  the  shoguns  and  the  restoration  of  the  emperor  as 
the  real  ruler  of  Japan. 

But  while  the  Shushi  school  was  recognized  and  encour- 
aged as  the  official  teaching  and  while  opponents  to  this 
system  were  often  suppressed,  there  were  in  Japan,  as  there 
had  been  in  China  before,  men  whose  thought-life  could 
not  be  confined  to  a  fixed  rut  by  government  edicts  or  per- 
secutions. These  became  the  followers  of  Ovomei  and  con- 
stituted  the  Oyomei  school.  The  first  and  in  many  respects 
the  greatest  of  these  was  Xakae  Tojiu,  the  Sage  of  Omi.  In 
his  philosophy  of  life  Japanese  thought  reaches  in  many 
respects  its  loftiest  form,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  he  is  still 
regarded  with  great  reverence.  Some  say  he  was  really  the 
only  true  sage  Japan  has  produced.  His  conception  of  the 
nature  of  the  "  Ri"  and  man's  relation  to  it  and  to  his  fellow- 
man  was  indeed  a  close  approach  to  the  best  Christian 
thought,  and  should  be  a  real  schoolmaster  to  bring  men  to 
Christ.  Another  man  of  this  school  was  Nakae's  greatest 
disciple,  Kumazawa  Banzan,  who  was  perhaps  the  most 
independent  thinker  of  all  these  Neo-Confucianists  and  whose 
views  on  Buddhism  and  Christianity  are  of  special  interest. 
The  Oyomei  school,  like  the  Shushi  school,  counted  among 
its  exponents  many  of  the  leading  men  of  the  Tokugawa  era. 
In  fact  the  stream  of  Confucianism  in  this  school  kept  purer 
and  fresher  than  in  the  official  Shushi  school,  for  the  latter 
was  too  closely  hemmed  in  by  official  regulations  to  allow 
the  freedom  so  essential  for  the  spiritual  life.  The  official 
school  became  really  corrupt  and  helped  rivet  upon  Japan 
that  formalism  ^^  and  dead  uniformity  so  characteristic  of 
much  of  the  life  during  the  Tokugawa  period. 


148  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

In  addition  to  these  two  Neo-Confucian  schools,  found 
both  in  China  and  Japan,  there  developed  in  Japan,  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  a  third  school 
of  Confucianism  known  as  the  Classical  school.  The  founders 
of  this  school  were  Yamaga  Soko  and  Ito  Jinsai,  of  whom  the 
latter  is  of  greatest  importance,  though  the  former  is  of 
peculiar  interest  in  that  he  is  regarded  as  the  father  of 
Bushido,  "The  Way  of  the  True  Knight."  This  school 
may  be  said  to  be  a  protest  against  the  emphasis  which  both 
the  Shushi  and  Oyomei  schools  were  placing  upon  the 
thought-life  as  over  against  the  life  of  action  and  emotion. 
That  is,  Confucianism  was  becoming  much  like  Buddhism, 
which  conceives  of  life  too  much  in  terms  of  the  intellect 
and  not  enough  in  terms  of  the  feelings  and  the  will.  The 
school  has  a  right  to  be  called  the  Classical  school  in  that 
it  made  a  conscious  effort  to  get  back  to  Confucius  and  even 
back  to  the  life-ideal  of  the  wise  rulers  before  him  and  of 
which  he  was  only  a  transmitter;  but,  after  all,  the  phi- 
losophy of  life  held  by  the  chief  exponents  of  this  school  is 
a  great  advance  over  the  older  Confucianism.  Particularly 
is  this  true  of  the  philosophy  of  Ogiu  Sorai.  Though  he 
claims  to  go  back  to  the  teachings  of  the  sages  that  pre- 
ceded Confucius,  it  is  clear  that  his  lofty  conception  of  the 
divine  and  man's  relation  to  it  and  to  his  fellow-man  is 
more  than  the  exposition  of  these  ancient  texts,  but  rather 
shows  that,  keen  scholar  that  he  was,  he  was  a  true  heir  of 
all  the  ages.  Ogiu  Sorai  and  Nakae  Tojiu  represent  the 
best  blending  of  what  is  loftiest  in  the  teachings  of  the  old 
philosophies  and  religions  of  Japan.  Other  great  names  in 
this  Classical  school  are  Ito  Togai  and  Dazai  Shundai,  the 
latter  being  of  special  importance  as  a  vigorous  opponent  of 
Buddhism. 

Of  less  importance  in  the  life  of  Japan  during  the  Tokugawa 
period  than  the  above  three  schools  of  Confucianism  is  a 
fourth  one,  known  as  the  Eclectic  school.  The  tendency 
towards  eclecticism  is  always  strong  when  too  many  schools 
of  philosophy  and  religion  occupy  the  field,  and  there  were 
a  number  of  such  movements  in  Japan  at  this  time.    But 


RELIGION  IN  TOKUGAWA  PERIOD  149 

this  Eclectic  school  of  Confucianism  must  be  distinguished 
from  the  others  in  that  it  professed  to  draw  its  material  only 
from  the  existing  Confucian  schools.  When  it  is  remembered, 
however,  that  the  schools  of  Neo-Confucianism  are  them- 
selves a  syncretism  of  Confucianism,  Taoism  and  Buddhism, 
this  so-called  Eclectic  Confucian  school  is  really  a  wider 
eclecticism. 

Now  from  this  brief  summary  of  Confucianism  in  Japan 
during  the  Tokugawa  age  it  is  clear  that  Buddhism  had  in- 
deed a  strong  rival,  for  while,  as  we  have  said,  this  Confucian 
thought  was  first  introduced  by  Buddhist  priests  as  a  part 
of  Buddhist  teachings,  the  movement  gradually  became 
independent  of  its  foster  mother  and  in  some  cases  even 
opposed.  In  fact,  some  of  the  most  bitter  enemies  which 
Japanese  Buddhism  ever  had  were  among  these  great  Con- 
fucian scholars  who  came  to  Confucianism  through  Buddhism. 
Gradually  the  intellectual  leadership  and  the  guidance  in 
matters  of  moral  education  passed  from  the  hands  of  the 
Buddhists  into  the  hands  of  men  who  drew  their  inspiration 
from  Confucian  thought.  The  function  of  the  Buddhist 
priests  was  more  and  more  limited  to  matters  pertaining 
to  the  future  world  and  to  taking  care  of  men's  dead  bodies 
rather  than  directing  their  daily  lives.  The  official  world 
in  Japan  and  the  military  classes  and  men  of  affairs  had 
indeed  little  to  do  with  Buddhism  and  so  it  became  more 
and  more  the  religion  of  the  ignorant  masses,  who  knew 
nothing  of  its  better  teachings  or  of  its  past  glory.  Even 
the  better  minds  in  Buddhism  could  not  cope  with  the  new 
situation.  When  challenged  by  the  progressive  Confucian- 
ists  to  state  their  religious  views  in  terms  applicable  to  Jap- 
anese life  they  could  not  do  it  acceptably.  The  simple  truth 
of  the  matter  is  that  the  Buddhist  philosophy  of  life,  being 
itself  the  expression  of  a  world-weary  civilization,  cannot 
be  made  a  constructive  force  in  an  age  of  reconstructions.^^ 

5.  Neo-Shinto  Opposition  to  Buddhism.  —  But  Neo-Con- 
fucianism was  not  the  only  force  with  which  Buddhism  had 
to  divide  the  field  after  the  rise  of  the  Tokugawa  shogunate. 
There  developed  also  what  might  be  called  a  Neo-Shinto. 


150  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

We  saw  how  at  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century  Shinto 
and  Buddhism  were  merged  into  one  system  known  as 
Ryobu  Shinto.  What  this  really  meant  was  that  Shinto 
was  virtually  swallowed  up  by  Buddhism.  Not  that  Shinto 
disappeared  entirely,  for  the  religion  of  the  masses  in  Bud- 
dhism was  often  more  like  the  old  Shinto  than  Buddhism, 
but  that  it  was  Buddhist  thought  which  dominated  the 
minds  of  the  thinking  sections  of  society.  But  when, 
through  the  civil  wars  that  preceded  the  Tokugawa  age, 
Buddhism  had  been  weakened,  the  spirit  of  the  native 
Shinto  came  to  life  again.  It  is  rather  difficult  to  account 
for  this,  but  one  factor  in  the  matter  seems  to  have  been  a 
growing  national  consciousness  caused,  on  the  one  hand, 
by  the  influx  of  the  Neo-Confucianism,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  by  the  enforced  unification  of  the  empire  under  leyasu. 
That  is,  the  growing  knowledge  of  things  Chinese  naturally 
led  men  to  think  of  things  Japanese  by  way  of  comparison. 
We  know,  e.g.,  that  Hayashi  Kazan  and  other  Confucian 
scholars  went  so  far  as  to  work  out  a  theory  of  a  relation 
between  Japan's  first  emperor,  Jimmu  Tenno,  and  the 
Chinese  Emperor  Taikaku  of  the  Shu  era,  and  that  these 
views  led  Tokugawa  Mitsukuni  (1G2S-1700)  to  gather  to- 
gether many  great  scholars  into  an  institution  called  the 
"Shoko  Kwan"  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  Japanese 
history.  It  was  these  scholars  of  the  Mito  branch  of  the 
Shushi  school  who  wrote  the  Dai  Xihon  Shi,  "Great  Jap- 
anese History,"  which  was  to  play  such  a  big  part  in  the 
Restoration  of  1868.  But  this  movement  in  the  Mito  school 
was  only  a  part  of  a  wider  movement,  namely,  a  movement 
to  know  and  restore  things  Japanese. 

A  better  knowledge  of  things  Japanese  showed  men  that 
Buddhism,  which  had  dominated  Japan  so  long,  was  really  a 
foreign  importation  and  that  it  could  be  justly  blamed  for 
having  played  a  big  part  in  the  civil  wars  which  had  for  cen- 
turies devastated  these  beautiful  islands.  In  fact,  it  could 
be  shown  with  a  degree  of  fairness  that  Buddhism  had 
broken  the  spirit  of  the  native  Shint5,  the  heart  of  which 
was  loyalty  to  the  ruler  and  a  deep  patriotism.     Of  course, 


RELIGION  IN  TOKUGAWA  PERIOD  151 

Confucianism  was  also  a  foreign  element  and  for  that  reason 
there  was  some  opposition  to  it  on  the  part  of  certain  Shin- 
toists,  but  still  Confucianism,  with  its  emphasis  on  filial 
piety  and  loyalty,  was  much  nearer  to  Shinto  in  spirit  than 
was  Buddhism,  whose  highest  ideal  was  the  celibate  monk, 
and  which  treated  human  life  and  the  world  as  evil.  As 
time  went  on,  therefore,  this  Neo-Shinto  gained  momentum 
until  finally  in  the  persons  of  Motoori  Norinaga  and  Hirata 
Atsutane  it  became  a  fierce  opponent  of  Buddhism  and  all 
for  which  Buddhism  stood.  "Back  to  the  pure  Shinto  of 
the  early  days!"  was  the  cry  of  these  men.  "Back  to  the 
religion  which  is  the  only  real  basis  for  the  teaching  that  the 
Imperial  household  descended  from  the  Sun  Goddess  Ama- 
terasu."  Buddhism  had  made  of  emperors  mere  puppets 
to  plotting  priests  and  so  destroyed  the  very  foundations 
of  the  Japanese  state. 

Even  among  Buddhists  themselves  there  was  a  searching 
into  the  facts  of  the  past  which  helped  weaken  its  hold  on 
Japan  and  shook  men's  faith  in  its  authority.  Attacked 
from  all  sides  and  on  historic  grounds,  some  of  the  more 
earnest  priests  took  a  more  critical  attitude  towards  their 
own  religion,  and  we  have  what  we  might  call  the  birth  of 
higher  criticism  in  Japanese  Buddhism.  Two  learned  men, 
Tominaga  Nakamoto  and  Hattori  Tenyu,  were  elected  to 
make  a  special  study  of  the  Buddhist  canon ;  and  par- 
ticularly the  work  of  the  former,  though  attracting  little 
attention  at  the  time,  laid  the  foundations  for  future 
criticisms.  We  shall  speak  of  his  work  in  the  Chapter  on 
the  Buddhist  Canon,  but  we  wish  to  state  here  simply  that 
he  came  to  the  general  conclusion  that  Mahay  ana  Buddhism 
was  not  the  pure  Buddhism  of  the  founder.  It  is  only 
natural  that  such  views  should  have  a  rather  serious  effect 
on  the  minds  of  those  who  placed  all  the  emphasis  on  ex- 
ternal authority. 

Now  this  religio-patriotic  movement  led  by  the  Shinto- 
ists  and  the  Confucian  scholars  of  the  Mito  school  not  only 
undermined  the  authority  of  Buddhism,  branding  it  as  a 
foreign  and  undesirable  importation,   but  it  also  reacted 


152  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

on  the  Tokugawa  shogunate  itself,  which  had  been  instru- 
mental in  establishing  the  Shushi  school.  If  Buddhism 
was  a  usurper  in  the  spiritual  world,  then  surely  was  the 
shogunate  itself  a  worse  criminal,  for  had  it  not  robbed 
the  emperors  at  Kyoto  of  all  real  authority?  Little  did 
Tokugawa  Mitsukuni  dream  that  when  he  founded  the 
"Shoko  Kwan"  at  Mito  and  encouraged  the  scholars  to 
study  Japanese  history  he  was  helping  in  the  overthrow  of 
his  successors.  We  w^ould  not  say  that  this  was  the  only 
factor  in  the  situation,  for  the  Tokugawa  shogunate,  long 
before  it  was  viewed  as  a  usurper,  had  degenerated  and  lost 
its  control  over  the  powerful  clans  in  the  south,  but  still  the 
leaders  from  these  southern  clans,  which  took  the  lead  in 
the  movement  that  ended  in  the  Restoration  of  1868,  drew 
much  of  their  inspiration  from  the  Mito  scholars.  The 
Restoration  was,  of  course,  hastened  by  the  appearance  of 
Commodore  Perry's  ships  in  1853,  but  it  was  not  really 
caused  by  this  as  some  Westerners  fondly  imagine.  It  was 
really  a  very  minor  factor  in  a  very  complex  movement 
the  core  of  which  was  in  the  religious  and  philosophic  life 
of  the  nation  during  the  two  centuries  preceding. 

G.    Buddhism  in  the  Meiji  Era 

With  the  passing  away  of  the  Tokugawa  shogunate  and 
the  restoration  of  the  emperor  as  the  real  ruler  of  the  empire 
Buddhism  passed  into  a  new  world.  However  much  op- 
position there  had  been  to  it  during  the  Tokugawa  period 
and  however  much  it  had  lost  its  intellectual  and  moral 
leadership  to  men  reared  in  a  Confucian  atmosphere,  it  still 
occupied  a  place  as  a  state  religion.  Even  the  fierce  advo- 
cates of  the  native  Shinto  could  not  succeed  in  dislodging 
Buddhism  from  its  nominal  position  as  the  religion  of  the 
land  or  in  breaking  the  union  of  Shinto  and  Buddhism.  But 
a  few  years  after  the  Restoration,  namely,  in  the  year  1870, 
Buddhism  was  finally  disestablished  as  the  state  religion 
and  separated  from  Shinto.  An  attempt  was  even  made  to 
make  the  divorced  Shinto  the  state  religion,  but  this  was 


BUDDHISM  IN  MEIJI  ERA  153 

pressing  matters  too  far  and  did  not  succeed.  Instead 
Shinto  was  separated  into  two  parts,  namely,  Shinto  as  a 
religion  and  Shinto  as  a  system  of  rites  and  ceremonies  to  be 
used  on  state  occasions  as  the  official  form  for  such  things. 
This  second  division  (Shinshoku)  takes  charge  of  all  national 
shrines  and  tombs  of  great  statesmen  and  patriots  which 
are  not  officially  regarded  as  having  any  religious  significance. 
Shinto  as  a  religion  (Shinto  shukyd),  on  the  other  hand,  with 
the  granting  of  the  Constitution  in  1889,  was  placed  on  the 
same  footing  with  Buddhism  as  one  of  the  religions  of  Japan, 
In  fact,  the  Constitution  of  Japan  recognizes  the  principle  of 
religious  liberty,  and  so  puts  all  religions  on  the  same  footing 
before  the  law.  The  fact,  however,  that  the  government 
takes  its  ceremonies  for  state  occasions  from  Shinto  and  has 
Shinto  priests  officiate  at  such  times,  and  the  fact  that  the 
great  Shinto  shrines  are  made  national  shrines  gives  the  im- 
pression to  the  people  that  the  government  regards  Shinto 
as  the  state  religion.  The  distinction  in  Shinto  referred  to 
above  has  no  meaning  to  the  average  Japanese  and  all  the 
explanations  of  government  officials  as  to  what  they  mean 
by  it  has  not  changed  matters  much.  The  simple  fact  is 
that  the  people  at  large  regard  the  great  Shinto  shrines  as 
having  religious  significance  and  as  more  than  simply  nur- 
series for  patriotism.^^ 

As  a  result  of  this  disestablishment  of  Buddhism  as  a  state 
religion  it  has  found  it  rather  difficult  to  readjust  itself.  All 
through  its  history  in  Japan  it  had  depended  a  good  deal 
upon  government  patronage,  and  frequently  its  interests 
had  been  identical  with  those  of  the  rulers  of  the  nation. 
Thus  to  be  cast  off  and  thrown  upon  its  own  resources 
naturally  led  to  a  good  many  hardships.  A  good  many 
temples  have  found  it  impossible  to  continue  and  have  been 
abandoned,  and  still  more  are  in  a  dilapidated  condition. 
What  impresses  one  who  visits  the  numerous  beauty  spots 
in  Japan  so  frequently  occupied  by  Buddhist  temples  is 
that  their  glory  belongs  to  a  past  age  rather  than  to  the 
present.  The  pilgrims  who  visit  these  sequestered  spots 
are  not  so  much  the  pious  believers  with  their  rosaries  and 


154  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

much  repeated  prayers  but  troops  of  Middle  school  students 
out  on  an  Autumn  or  Spring  excursion  with  little  knowledge 
or  interest  in  the  things  for  which  these  decaying  temples 
stood  in  the  past.  Of  course,  there  are  certain  parts  of  the 
country  where  these  temples  still  stand  for  the  authority  of 
the  past ;  especially  is  this  true  in  some  of  the  non-progres- 
sive sections  on  the  west  coast  of  the  main  island,  but  no 
serious  student  of  Buddhist  history  would  hold  that  Buddhism 
plays  anything  like  the  role  in  Japanese  life  which  it  played 
up  to  or  even  through  the  Tokugawa  period. 

In  certain  quarters,  however,  attempts  have  been  made  to 
reform  Buddhism  and  restore  it  to  its  erstwhile  place  in 
Japanese  life.  Two  or  three  of  the  leading  sects  seem  to 
have  found  themselves  again  and  are  succeeding  fairly  well 
in  meeting  the  stress  of  economic  readjustment  that  has 
come  over  Japan  in  our  day.  Some  of  the  more  progressive 
leaders  say  that  the  disestablishment  of  Buddhism  as  the 
state  religion  is  really  a  good  thing  and  will  enable  it  to 
fulfill  its  mission  as  a  spiritual  force  in  society.  These  sects 
are  even  trying  to  extend  the  field  of  their  activity  by  carry- 
ing on  mission  work  in  the  newer  portions  of  the  empire 
and  by  trying  to  rejuvenate  the  decadent  Buddhism  of 
Korea  and  China.  New  methods  of  propaganda  are  being 
adopted,  taken  over  bodily  from  Christianity.  Thus  on 
all  sides  we  see  springing  up  Young  Men's  Buddhist  Asso- 
ciations, Buddhist  Sunday  Schools,  Women's  Societies, 
Orphanages,  Homes  for  Ex-convicts,  etc.  Even  street 
preaching  and  special  "evangelistic  campaigns"  are  getting 
quite  common,  and  the  content  of  some  of  the  sermons  and 
hymns  is  sometimes  taken  bodily  from  Christianity,  only 
that  the  name  Buddha  takes  the  place  of  Christ.  It  must  be 
added,  however,  that  the  recent  scandals  connected  with 
the  headquarters  of  almost  every  one  of  the  leading  sects 
go  a  long  way  to  counteract  this  forward  movement  and 
many  earnest  Buddhists  are  wondering  what  will  be  the 
fate  of  their  religion  in  Japan. 


THE    TWELVE   SECTS 


155 


H.    The  Buddhist  Sects  and  Their  Numerical  Strength 

In  the  closing  chapter  we  shall  discuss  more  fully  the 
place  of  Buddhism  in  the  life  of  present-day  Japan  and  its 
outlook  for  the  future.  At  this  point,  however,  it  might  be 
of  value  to  give  the  names  of  the  various  sects  and  sub- 
divisions of  Japanese  Buddhism  as  well  as  the  relative 
strength  of  these. 

1.  The  Twelve  Sects.  —  Following  the  traditions  of  Chinese 
Buddhism,  Japanese  Buddhism  has  long  since  held  to  the 
number  twelve  as  the  proper  number  of  sects.  This  has 
necessitated  a  readjustment  from  time  to  time  as  old  sects 
died  out  and  new  ones  came  into  existence.  The  old  way 
of  enumeration  was  as  follows  when  given  in  their  chrono- 
logical order : 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 
10 
11 
12 

Four  of  these  sects  have  died  out,  namely,  the  Sanron, 
Jojitsu,  Kusha  and  Ritsu,  and  their  place  is  made  up  by 
regarding  the  three  main  divisions  of  the  Zen  Sect  as  in- 
dependent sects  and  counting  the  small  Yudzu  Nembutsu 
and  Ji  sects,  so  that  the  list  is  as  follows : 


1. 

Sanron 

introduced  i 

n    625  A.D. 

2. 

Jojitsu 

introduced  ] 

m    625  A.D. 

3. 

Hosso 

introduced  i 

m    625  or  653  a.d. 

4. 

Kusha 

introduced  i 

m    658  A.D. 

5. 

Kegon 

introduced  ] 

m    736  A.D. 

6. 

Ritsu 

introduced  i 

m    754  A.D. 

7. 

Tendai 

introduced  i 

m    805  A.D. 

8. 

ShingoE 

L  introduced  ] 

m    805  A.D. 

9. 

Jodo 

founded       ] 

m  1175  A.D. 

10. 

Zen 

introduced 

in  1191  A.D. 

11. 

Shin 

founded 

in  1224  A.D. 

12. 

Nichiren  founded 

in  1253  A.D. 

1. 

Hoss5 

Rinzai  (Zen) 

2. 

Kegon 

8. 

Soto  (Zen) 

3. 

Tendai 

9. 

Shin 

4. 

Shingon 

10. 

Nichiren 

5. 

Yudzu  Nembutsu 

11. 

Ji 

6. 

Jodo 

12. 

Obaku  (Zen) 

156  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

2.   Subdivisions  of  the  Sects 

1.  Hosso :  Hosso-shu.     (1) 

2.  Kegon :  Kegon-shu.     (1) 

3.  Tendai :  Tendai-shu,  Jimon-lia,  Shinsel-ha.     (3) 

4.  Shingon  :  (Old  School)  Koya-ha,  Omuro-ha,  Daigo-ha, 

Daikakuji-ha,  Toji-lia,  Senyuji-ha,  Yamashina-ha, 
Ono-ha.     (The  last  four  are  sometimes  grouped 
as  one.) 
(New  School)  Chisan-ha,  Hozan-ha,  Ritsu-ha.     (11) 

5.  Yudzii  Nembutsu :     Yudzu  Nembutsu-shu.     (1) 

6.  Jodo :   Jodo-shu,  Nishiyama-ha.     (2) 

7.  Rinzai  (Zen)  :    Tenryuji-ha,   Sokokuji-ha,   Kenninji- 

ha,  Nanzenji-ha,  Myoshinji-ha,  Kenchoji-ha,  To- 
fukuji-ha,  Daitokuji-ha,  Enkakiiji-ha,  Eigenji-ha, 
Hokoji-ha,  Butsuji-ha,  Kakutaiji-ha,  Kogakuji-ha. 
(The  last  two  are  sometimes  classed  as  parts  of 
other  branches.)     (14) 

8.  Soto  (Zen) :  Soto-shu.     (1) 

9.  Shin :    Hongwanji-ha,  Otani-ha,  Takada-ha,  Koshoji- 

ha,  Bukkoji-ha,  Kibe-ha,  Izumoji-ha,  Yamamoto- 
ha,  Seishoji-ha,  Sammonto-ha.     (10) 

10.  Nichiren :    Nichiren-shu,  Kempon  Hokke-shu,  Hom- 

mon-shu,HommonHokke-shu,Hokke-shu,Hommyo 
Hokke-shu,  Nichiren  Fuji-ha,  Nichiren  Fujufuse-ha, 
Nichiren  Fujufuse  Komon-ha.     (9) 

11.  Ji:  Jishu.     (1)_ 

12.  Obaku  (Zen) :  Obaku-shu.     (1) 


THE  TWELVE  SECTS 


157 


3.   Relative  Strength  of  the  Sects 


Temples 

Priests 

Propa- 
gandists 

Monks  and 
Neophytes 
NOT  Propa- 
gandists 

1.  Hosso  .... 

2.  Kegon      .     .     . 

3.  Tendai     .     .     . 

4.  Shingon    .     .     . 

5.  Yudzu  Nembutsu 

6.  Jodo    .... 

7.  Rinzai  (Zen) 

8.  Soto  (Zen)     .     . 

9.  Shin     .... 

10.  Niehiren  .     .     . 

11.  Ji    

12.  Obaku  (Zen)      . 

41 

32 

4711 

12,717 

363 

8371 

6142 

14,211 

19,447 

5074 

513 

569 

17 

12 

2789 

7741 

408 

6149 

4410 

9499 

15,787 

4181 

208 

347 

69 

15 

6695 

9696 

275 

7721 

5068 

13,675 

22,340 

6239 

413 

540 

121 

1754 

2567 

135 

1067 

3410 

12,770 

23,709 

876 

230 

Totals  .     .     . 

72,191 

51,548 

72,746 

46,639 

(The  "  Priests  "  in  column  two  are  some  of  them  included 
also  in  column  three  and  others  in  column  four,  so  that  they 
are  really  counted  twice  in  the  above  figures.) 

It  is  impossible  to  say  just  how  many  adherents  the  various 
sects  have.  This  is  due  to  two  things.  First  is  the  fact  that 
during  the  Tokugawa  period  everybody  was  required  to 
register  in  one  or  another  of  the  temples,  and  thus  many  still 
call  themselves  Buddhists  even  though  they  have  practically 
no  connection  with  any  temple  or  sect  now  that  this  regis- 
tration is  no  longer  required.  The  other  reason  why  it  is 
impossible  to  give  the  number  of  adherents  is  the  simple  fact 
that  nothing  special  is  required  to  be  a  Buddhist.  Not  even 
the  simple  confession,  "I  take  refuge  in  the  Buddha,  the 
Law  and  the  Priesthood,"  once  used  as  a  test  of  discipleship, 
is  required  of  the  general  run  of  people  who  are  claimed  as 
Buddhists.  The  numerical  strength  of  Buddhists  in  Japan 
to-day,  therefore,  can  be  measured  only  by  such  figures  as  we 
have  given  above,  and  even  this  is  rather  misleading,  for 
the  simple  fact  that  practically  all  those  numerous  temples 
are  an  inheritance  of  the  past  and  it  is  exceedingly  doubtful 
whether  many  of  them  will  be  kept  up  or  rebuilt  as  the 
economic  pressure  continues  to  increase. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Buddhist  Canon  as  Known  in  Japan 

The  Christian  Bible  is  a  collection  of  books,  sixty-six  in 
all ;  the  Buddhist  Bible  as  known  in  Japan  is  a  good-sized 
library.  It  is  the  boast  of  Buddhist  priests  that  their 
sacred  Canon  contains  no  less  than  6771  books.  This  may 
be  an  over-statement  of  the  facts,  but  still  is  it  true  that  the 
Canon  of  Northern  Buddhism  does  contain  upwards  of  5000 
books,  which  according  to  Nanjo's  Catalogue  of  the  Chinese 
Tripitaka  represent  1662  different  works.  Edkins  in  his 
"  Chinese  Buddhism  "  makes  the  statement  that  the  Buddhist 
scriptures  in  some  of  the  standard  Chinese  versions  are  about 
700  times  as  large  as  the  New  Testament,  and  as  Japanese 
Buddhists  include  books  not  found  in  the  Chinese  collec- 
tions their  scriptures  are  even  more  voluminous.^  The 
Pali  Canon  of  Southern  Buddhism,  made  known  to  Western 
students  through  the  splendid  efforts  of  the  Pali  Text  So- 
ciety, is  only  about  twice  as  large  as  the  English  Bible.  A 
simple  calculation  would  show  then  that  the  Northern  Canon 
is  about  one  hundred  times  larger  than  this  Pali  Canon. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  even  this  comparatively  small 
Bible  of  southern  Buddhists  is  still  very  little  knowTi  by 
Western  students,  though  the  great  bulk  of  the  scholarly 
work  done  on  Buddhism  has  been  done  on  the  Buddhism  of 
the  South,  it  will  not  seem  strange  to  say  that  the  huge 
Northern  Canon  is  practically  an  unknown  library  to  all 
but  a  handful  of  scholars.  It  will  take  the  untiring  efforts  of 
several  generations  of  students  before  even  the  more  valuable 
of  these  numerous  books  can  be  made  accessible  to  scholars 
not  familiar  with  the  puzzling  Chinese  characters.     The 

158 


BUDDHIST  CANON  159 

Sacred  Books  of  the  East  series  edited  by  Max  Mueller 
contains  a  few  translations  and  represents  a  noble  begin- 
ning, but  it  is  a  pity  that  the  work  has  not  been  carried 
further. 

Strictly  speaking,  of  course,  there  is  really  no  such  thing 
as  a  Canon  of  Northern  Buddhism,  for  the  line  between  books 
included  and  those  excluded  is  not  drawn  very  clearly.  In 
fact,  some  of  the  books  included  are  mere  names  and  are  no 
longer  extant,  whereas  there  are  books  used  in  Japan  by  the 
various  sects  which  are  not  ordinarily  included  in  the  Canon, 
but  which  for  all  practical  purposes  have  supplanted  the 
canonical  writings.^  Throughout  the  history  of  Northern 
Buddhism  the  Canon  has  constantly  been  changing;  old 
books  once  included  have  disappeared  and  new  ones  have 
taken  their  place.  This  comes  very  clearly  to  light  from  a 
study  of  the  introduction  to  Nanjo's  Catalogue  referred  to 
above.  A  few  facts  about  the  thirteen  existing  catalogues 
of  the  Chinese  Canon  or  Canons  may  be  summarized  as 
follows : 

The  oldest  catalogue  in  existence  dates  from  about  520 
A.D.  It  mentions  2213  works,  of  which  276  can  be  identified 
with  those  in  existence  at  the  present  day. 

The  second  oldest  catalogue  (594  a.d.)  mentions  2257 
distinct  works  in  5310  books.  This  does  not  mean,  however, 
that  these  were  all  in  existence  at  that  time,  for  some  were 
known  only  as  names. 

The  third  catalogue  (597  a.d.)  gives  1076  different  works 
in  3325  books  as  admitted  to  the  Canon  at  that  time.  Per- 
haps the  reason  why  tw^o  lists  published  so  closely  together 
should  differ  so  widely  in  the  number  of  books  given  is 
because  the  third  catalogue  includes  only  the  books  then 
positively  known  to  be  extant,  while  the  second  catalogue 
includes  all  books  once  recognized  as  canonical  though  many 
had  been  lost. 

The  fourth  catalogue  (602  a.d.)  mentions  2109  works  in 
5058  books. 

The  fifth  catalogue  (664  a.d.)  gives  2487  works  in  8476 
books,  but  of  the  works  actually  in  existence  at  that  time 


160  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

only  799  are  mentioned.  These  comprised  3364  books  and 
made  45,626  leaves. 

The  sixth  catalogue  (664  a.d.  ?)  gives  1620  works  in  5552 
books. 

The  seventh  catalogue  (695  a.d.)  mentions  3616  works  in 
8521  books.  Besides  these,  it  says,  there  were  859  works  in 
3882  books  admitted  to  the  Canon  at  that  time.  It  also 
gives  a  list  of  228  works  in  419  books  as  spurious  writings. 

The  eighth  catalogue  (730  a.d.)  is  perhaps  the  best  one  in 
existence.  It  gives  the  names  of  2278  dijfferent  works  in 
7046  books.  It  states,  however,  that  of  these,  1148  works 
in  1980  books  were  missing  at  the  time  and  were  known 
only  from  references.  This  catalogue  gives  also  a  list  of  41 
other  catalogues,  the  great  majority  of  which  were  no  longer 
in  existence.    This  eighth  catalogue  itself  comprised  20  books. 

The  ninth  catalogue  (730  a.d.)  is  an  abridged  reproduction 
of  the  last  part  of  the  eighth  catalogue. 

The  tenth  catalogue  (730  a.d.)  enumerates  163  translations 
in  645  books  made  in  China  between  664-730  a.d. 

The  eleventh  catalogue  (1285-1287  a.d.)  gives  1440  works 
in  5586  books. 

The  twelfth  catalogue  (completed  in  1360  a.d.)  was  based 
entirely  upon  the  eleventh. 

The  thirteenth  catalogue  (1368-1398  a.d.)  was  originally 
a  catalogue  of  the  Canon  of  southern  China  published  in 
Nanking,  but  is  now  used  also  for  the  edition  published 
at  Peking  1403-1424  a.d.,  with  41  works  added  later.  This 
thirteenth  catalogue  forms  the  basis  of  Nanjo's  "Catalogue 
of  the  Buddhist  Tripitaka"  which  he  compiled  by  order  of 
the  Secretary  of  State  for  India  and  which  was  published  in 
English  by  the  Oxford  University  Press  in  1883.  Nanj5 
gives  the  names  of  1662  works  in  Chinese,  in  Sanskrit  (when 
it  is  originally  a  Sanskrit  work  and  the  name  is  known), 
and  in  English.  He  also  adds  a  few  explanatory  notes  to 
each  work  listed  and  gives  such  data  as  the  name  of  the 
author,  translator,  dates,  size  of  the  scripture,  etc.  This 
catalogue  is  a  large-sized  volume.  When  the  mere  names 
of  the  books  in  the  Canon  of  Northern  Buddhism  make  a 


BUDDHIST  CANON  161 

large  volume,  the  reader  may  imagine  how  bulky  the  Canon 
itself  is. 

From  the  above  summary,  then,  it  should  be  clear,  as  we 
have  said,  that  strictly  speaking  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a 
real  Canon  of  Northern  Buddhism.  It  would  almost  seem 
as  if  at  times  any  book  produced  by  Buddhists  was  given  a 
place  within  its  wide  bounds,  and  the  only  reason  that  in 
the  modern  period  the  Canon  has  become  more  or  less  fixed 
is  because  Chinese  Buddhism  has  decayed  and  ceased  to 
produce  any  literature  of  value.  In  Japan,  where  Buddhism 
continued  in  vitality  longer,  books  of  value  were  produced 
later,  and,  as  stated  above,  there  is  a  tendency  to  give  these 
a  place  among  the  sacred  scriptures  of  Buddhism  even 
though  they  may  not  be  included  in  what  is  technically  re- 
garded as  the  Canon. 

The  standard  edition  of  the  Canon  as  held  in  Japan  to-day 
is  probably  the  one  published  by  a  group  of  Japanese  scholars 
in  1885  and  is  known  as  The  Official  Canon  of  Japan  (Dai 
Nippon  Kotei  Daizokyo).  It  is  a  rather  critical  work 
carried  out  by  men  who  have  had  some  training  in  modern 
methods  of  criticism,  though  it  should  not  be  supposed  that 
it  will  satisfy  the  scholar  of  the  future.  It  is  based  upon 
four  older  editions  published  in  Korea  and  China  from  the 
eleventh  to  the  sixteenth  centuries.  These  are  the  follow- 
ing: (1)  The  Koraibon,  published  in  Korea  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eleventh  century  and  containing  1521  different 
works  in  6467  (or  6589)  books.  A  copy  of  this  was  brought 
to  Japan  between  1469-86  and  is  in  the  possession  of  the 
Zojoji  of  Shiba  Park,  Tokyo.  Only  two  volumes  are  miss- 
ing from  the  original  collection.  (2)  The  Minzo  (Chinese, 
JNIin  Tsan)  edition  of  the  sixteenth  century,  consisting  of 
1662  works.  This  edition  is  very  widely  circulated  both  in 
China  and  Japan,  and  a  copy  of  what  is  essentially  the  same 
is  to  be  found  in  the  India  office  in  London.  (3)  The  Sozo 
edition,  which  appeared  in  China  in  1239  and  which  contains 
1421  works  in  5714  (or  5916)  books.  This  was  brought  to 
Japan  in  1275  and  is  to  be  found  at  the  Zojoji  in  Tokyo. 
(4)  The  Genzo  edition,  which  appeared    in  China   at  the 

M 


162  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

end  of  the  thirteenth  century  and  which  consists  of  5397 
books. 

The  first  copy  of  this  standard  edition  of  the  Japanese 
Canon  to  be  sent  abroad  was  sent  to  the  Bodleian  Library 
at  Oxford,  where  Western  students  have  access  to  it ;  but  as 
it  is  written  in  the  difficult  Chinese  characters  it  is  not  very 
likely  that  its  contents  will  become  public  property  very 
soon.  Even  in  the  university  libraries  of  Japan  these  sacred 
books  have  a  forbidding  air  about  them  and  none  but  a  few 
students  of  oriental  philosophy  ever  look  into  them,  A 
few  copies  are  finding  their  way  into  the  older  Buddhist 
lands  of  Asia  and  there  among  the  more  zealous  disciples  of 
the  Buddha  they  may  be  read  with  interest,  but  for  the  aver- 
age modern  student  in  the  Orient  the  majority  of  these 
books  have  only  an  antiquarian  interest.  A  few  of  the  books, 
as  we  shall  see  later,  still  exercise  an  influence  over  certain 
sections  of  Japanese  society,  and  these  may  be  said  to  con- 
stitute the  real  Bible  of  Japanese  Buddhism. 

From  what  we  have  said  thus  far  it  is  already  clear  that 
there  is  an  enormous  difference  between  the  scriptures  of 
Northern  Buddhism  and  those  of  Southern  Buddhism  pre- 
served best  in  the  Pali  Canon.  At  least  there  is  the  obvious 
difference  in  size.  But  the  difi'erence  is  more  fundamental 
than  simply  that  of  size ;  it  pertains  to  the  content  equally 
well.  The  Northern  Canon  contains  practically  all  that  is 
found  in  the  Pali  Canon,  but  it  also  contains  a  great  many 
treasures  and  a  great  deal  of  rubbish  peculiar  to  itself. 
The  Pali  Canon  was,  of  course,  a  growth  and  represents 
several  centuries  of  development.  That  is,  it  is  not  simply 
the  teachings  of  the  Buddha  and  his  immediate  disciples 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  but  it  is  the 
expression  of  the  religious  experience  of  several  centuries, 
guided  more  or  less  by  the  original  impress  communicated 
by  Gautama.  The  Northern  Canon,  however,  is  more  than 
the  evolution  of  a  few  centuries  of  Indian  thought ;  it  is 
really  a  library  of  books  written  during  a  period  extending 
over  many  centuries  and  by  people  of  varying  civilizations 
on  subjects  as  varied  as  are  the  interests  and  whims  of 


THE  BUDDHIST  CANON  163 

humanity.  The  oldest  of  these  books  date  probably  from 
about  the  middle  of  the  third  century  B.C.,  while  the  last 
ones  were  added  as  late  as  the  fourteenth  century.  Their 
contents  vary  all  the  way  from  the  most  profound  specula- 
tions as  to  the  nature  of  the  Absolute  to  the  most  childish 
twaddle  about  the  trivial  things  of  life.  One  critic  speaks 
of  the  Northern  Canon  as  a  house  in  which  nothing  old  and 
worn  out  has  ever  been  thrown  away,  though  many  new  things 
have  been  added  from  time  to  time.  The  reverent  Buddhist, 
however,  sees  in  this  bewildering  variety  a  wise  provision  for 
the  varied  needs  of  humanity.  He  says  the  Buddhist  Bible 
is  like  a  well-stocked  apothecary  shop,  and  the  wise  druggist 
knows  to  which  of  the  countless  bottles  and  cases  he  is  to 
turn  for  the  specific  disease  he  is  called  upon  to  help. 

As  a  result  of  this  conglomeration  of  books  written  over  a 
period  of  many  centuries  and  by  thinkers  of  different  civi- 
lizations, it  is  not  surprising  to  find  the  most  flagrantly  con- 
tradictory teachings  and  practices  represented.  We  speak 
of  the  differences  among  Christians,  and  an  Abelard  was 
able  to  write  his  Sic  et  7ion  of  the  Catholic  Church,  but  these 
differences  are  rather  small  when  compared  with  what  we 
find  in  these  scriptures  of  Northern  Buddhism.  The  dif- 
ferences and  contradictions  extend  to  the  very  fundamentals 
of  fundamentals.  In  fact,  there  is  as  much  agreement  be- 
tween the  varied  systems  of  religion  and  philosophy  which 
have  occupied  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men  in  the  West 
during  the  past  2500  years  as  there  is  in  the  teachings 
of  Northern  Buddhism.  There  is  nothing  that  has  ever 
entered  the  heart  or  mind  of  man  which  does  not  find  its 
counterpart  somewhere  in  these  Buddhist  scriptures. 

And  yet  in  spite  of  these  glaring  contradictions  in  the 
Buddhist  Bible  in  both  essentials  and  non-essentials,  all 
Buddhists  claim  to  follow  the  teachings  of  the  founder  Gau- 
tama, though  it  should  be  added  that  at  least  one  sect  in 
Japan,  the  Shin  Sect,  does  not  lay  very  much  stress  upon  this 
point. 

As  we  have  already  intimated  in  Chapter  I,  the  Southern 
Buddhists  do  not  find  very  much  difficulty  in  tracing  their 


164  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

central  teachings  back  to  the  founder;  for  it  is  probably 
correct  that  the  Pali  Canon  contains  the  core  of  Gautama's 
teachings,  though,  as  we  have  said  above,  it  also  represents 
several  centuries  of  development.^  But  when  we  come  to 
the  Northern  Canon  the  problem  is  quite  different.  To  say 
with  some  modern  Buddhist  apologists  that  Mahayana 
Buddhism  is  simply  the  developed  form  of  what  was  really 
contained  in  germ  in  Gautama's  teachings,  is  to  say  that  a 
system  may  develop  to  a  point  where  it  is  practically  the 
exact  opposite  of  what  it  was  at  the  beginning.  That  there 
is  a  historical  connection  between  Southern  and  Northern 
Buddhism  is  beyond  doubt,  as  we  have  shown  in  Chapter 
I,  and  in  that  sense  the  latter  is,  of  course,  a  development 
of  the  former.  But  the  development  was  in  some  points  so 
revolutionary  that  often  the  new  remained  Buddhist  only 
in  name.  Original  Buddhism,  as  we  saw  in  Chapter  I,  was 
itself  a  development  of  Brahmanism,  whose  fundamental 
ideas  about  the  Absolute  and  the  human  soul  it  rejected, 
though  other  teachings  of  Brahmanism,  such  as  the  doctrine 
of  Karma  and  Transmigration,  it  accepted.  Some  500 
years  later,  however,  Buddhism  had  developed  (or  degener- 
ated, if  one  speaks  from  the  standpoint  of  Gautama's  views) 
to  the  point  where  it  affirmed  again  these  very  conceptions 
which  it  originally  either  denied  or  ignored  as  idle  specula- 
tions. In  short,  the  old  theories  about  God,  the  soul  and 
the  future  life  reasserted  themselves,  and  they  have  always 
played  a  rather  vital  part  in  at  least  some  of  the  sects  of 
Northern  Buddhism,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  succeeding  chap- 
ters. To  this  change  in  fundamentals  were  added  from  time 
to  time  many  minor  things;  so  that  gradually  the  sacred 
Canon  gathered  up  into  itself,  like  a  rolling  snowball,  every- 
thing which  Buddhism  found  on  its  way  through  central 
and  eastern  Asia. 

Of  course,  few  Buddhists  will  admit  that  there  is  such  a 
radical  difference  between  the  teachings  of  the  founder  and 
the  later  doctrines  of  Mahayana  Buddhism.  They  either 
hold,  as  stated  above,  that  Mahayana  Buddhism  differs 
from  the  teachings  of  the  founder  only  as  the  full-grown 


THE  BUDDHIST  CANON  165 

plant  differs  from  the  seed,  or  else  they  resort  to  the  conven- 
ient theory,  long  held  by  Northern  Buddhists ;  namely,  that 
the  founder  taught  all  these  varied  and  apparently  contra- 
dictory doctrines,  but  that  some  of  them  must  be  regarded 
as  provisional  and  accommodated  teachings,  while  others 
are  the  undiluted  and  perfect  truths. 

The  Buddhist  Canon  as  a  whole  is  therefore  divided  by 
Northern  Buddhists  into  two  great  divisions.  These  are 
the  Little  Vehicle  (Sansk.,  Hinayana,  Japanese,  Sh5jo)  and 
the  Great  Vehicle  (Sansk.,  Mahayana,  Japanese,  Daijo). 
Many  Japanese  writers  make  three  divisions,  namely,  add- 
ing the  Provisional  Mahayana  (Japanese,  Gondaijo).  A 
few  writers  even  speak  of  five  Vehicles  and,  in  a  less  technical 
sense,  it  is  sometimes  said  that  there  are  as  many  Vehicles 
of  salvation  as  there  are  differences  between  the  various 
living  beings  to  be  saved.  Ordinarily,  however,  the  di- 
vision of  the  Buddhist  Canon  into  Hinayana  and  Mahayana 
is  the  accepted  division.  These  terms  were  invented  by 
Mahayana  Buddhists  and  bear  on  their  face  a  record  of  the 
controversy  which  raged  during  the  early  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era  over  the  very  question  as  to  what  were  the 
real  teachings  of  the  founder.  The  second  half  of  the  two 
words,  viz.  yana,  means  Vehicle,  a  vehicle  of  salvation  which 
carries  men  safely  across  this  life  into  the  next  and  better 
life.  Hinayana  means  Little  Vehicle  and  is  really  a  term 
of  contempt.  The  name  indicates  the  nature  of  the  teachings 
which  this  vehicle  of  salvation  contains,  namely,  the  Little 
Teachings,  or  the  undeveloped  and  provisional  doctrines. 
Mahayana,  on  the  other  hand,  means  Great  Vehicle  and  is 
a  term  of  boastful  superiority.  It  contains  the  Great  Teach- 
ings, the  full  and  perfect  doctrines  which  the  master  is  sup- 
posed to  have  taught  after  his  disciples  had  been  prepared 
for  them  through  their  knowledge  of  the  Hinayana.  We 
shall  state  a  little  later  how  this  theory  was  worked  out  in 
greater  detail  by  the  founder  of  the  T'ien  T'ai  Sect  in  China 
in  what  is  known  as  the  Five  Periods  of  Gautama's  ministry. 

Now  each  of  these  two  great  divisions  of  the  Canon  — 
Hinayana  and  Mahayana  —  is  subdivided  into  three  divi- 


166  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

sions  called  Pitakas,  Baskets  (Japanese,  Zo).  Some  say 
that  the  divisions  were  called  Pitakas  because  when  scholars 
classified  the  sacred  scriptures  the  books  were  put  into 
baskets.  A  better  explanation  is  to  see  in  this  term  rather 
the  idea  of  how  the  scriptures  were  handed  down  from  one 
generation  to  another.  In  the  Orient  it  is  a  common  custom 
to  have  workmen  stationed  in  a  line  who  hand  from  man  to 
man  a  series  of  baskets  filled  with  something  to  be  removed 
from  one  place  to  another.  (It  is  something  like  a  bucket 
line  in  a  fire  drill.)  So  we  are  to  understand  by  this  term 
Pitaka  a  long  line  of  teachers  who  have  handed  down  to 
generation  after  generation  the  teachings  of  the  founder  of 
Buddhism. 
The  three  Pitakas,  or  Tri-pitaka,  are  the  following : 

1.  Sutra-pitaka  (Japanese,  Kyozo). 

2.  Vinaya-pitaka  (Japanese,  Ritsuz5). 

3.  Abhidharma-pitaka  (Japanese,  Ronzo). 

The  Sutra-pitaka  contains  teachings  in  the  form  of  col- 
lected sayings,  dialogues  between  the  Buddha  and  his  dis- 
ciples and  sermons  with  stories  and  parables  which  relate 
and  illustrate  the  things  which  happened  at  that  time. 

The  Vinaya-pitaka  contains  the  precepts  and  rules  given 
by  the  master  for  the  instruction  of  those  who  have  given 
themselves  to  the  following  of  the  doctrine.  It  is  a  sort  of 
Set  of  Rules  for  the  brotherhood  of  the  elect. 

The  Abhidharma-pitaka  is  a  collection  of  treatises  and 
commentaries  and  contains  often  the  most  profound  phil- 
osophical discussions  on  points  growing  out  of  the  teachings 
contained  in  the  Sutra-pitaka.  The  contents  of  this  third 
division  are  not  regarded  as  the  Buddha's  own  words,  but  as 
explanations  of  his  teachings  presented  from  the  standpoint 
of  psychology  and  philosophy. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  classification  is  rather  elastic ; 
for  the  Vinaya-pitaka  sometimes  contains  sermons  and 
discourses,  and  the  Sutra-pitaka  often  has  in  it  discourses 
on  points  of  discipline,  while  both  of  these  divisions  fre- 
quently have  the  characteristics  of  the  third  division.  In 
fact,  this  threefold  division,  while  fairly  accurate  for  the 


THE  BUDDHIST  CANON  167 

Pali  Canon,  really  breaks  down  entirely  when  applied  to  the 
Northern  Canon,  for  the  simple  reason  that  many  of  the 
leading  siitras,  though  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  Buddha, 
are  no  more  his  teachings  than  is  the  whole  Abhidharma- 
pitaka.  The  classification  should  therefore  not  be  taken 
too  seriously  and  should  be  regarded  as  one  of  those  con- 
venient expedients  of  the  human  mind  by  which  a  bewilder- 
ing multiplicity  is  reduced  to  a  unity  by  simply  afiixing  a 
label. 

This  gives  us,  then,  a  double  Tri-pitaka  for  the  Buddhist 
Canon  taken  as  a  whole ;  namely,  a  Hinayana  Tri-pitaka  and 
a  Mahayana  Tri-pitaka.  The  relative  sizes  of  the  two 
may  be  seen  by  a  reference  to  Nanjo's  Catalogue  of  the 
canonical  writings  to  which  we  have  referred  above.  Nan- 
j5's  divisions  are  a  little  different  from  what  we  have  just 
given,  but  they  are  enough  alike  to  throw  a  little  light  on 
the  subject.  He  makes  four  Pitakas  instead  of  three,  add- 
ing the  so-called  Samyutka-pitaka,  i.e.  Mixed  Works.  The 
1662  works  enumerated  by  him  are  classified  as  follows  : 

A.  Sutra-pitaka 

I.  Mahayana  sutras Numbers  1-541 

II.  Hinayana  sutras Numbers       542-781 

HI.   Mahayana  and  Hinayana  su- 
tras  which  were  added  to 

the  Canon  960-1368  A.D.    .     Numbers     782-1081 

B.  Vinaya-pitaka 

I.  Mahayana  vinayas      ....     Numbers  1082-1106 

II.  Hinayana  vinayas      ....     Numbers  1107-1166 

C    Abhidharma-pitaka 

I.  Mahayana  abhidharmas        .     .     Numbers  1167-1260 

II.  Hinayana  abhidharmas        .     .     Numbers  1261-1297 

III.  Maha^'ana      and      Hinaj^ana 

abhidharmas  which  were 
added  to  the  Canon  960- 
1368  A.D Numbers  1298-1320 

D.    Samyukta-pitaka  —  Mixed  Works 

I.   Works  of  Hindu  teachings    .     .     Numbers  1321-1467 


168  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

II.  Early  Chinese  works      .     .     .     Numbers  1468-1621 

III.  Chinese  works  added  to  the 

Canon  1368-1644  a.d.  .     .     Numbers  1622-1657 

IV.  Works  missing  in  the  North- 

ern Chinese  collection  and 
taken  from  the  Southern 
Chinese Numbers  1658-1662 

Nanjo's  classification  of  the  Canon  is  based  largely  upon 
the  older  classifications  made  by  Chinese  scholars  and 
therefore  should  not  be  regarded  as  a  real  critical  analysis. 
It  is  but  one  w^ay  among  others.  For  example,  a  handbook 
on  Buddhism  published  in  Tokyo  a  few  years  ago  makes  the 
following  sweeping  classification,  using  the  books  in  the  Canon 
rather  than  the  different  works  as  the  units  of  division : 

A.  Mahayana  sutras 2883  books 

B.  Hlnayana  sutras 680  books 

C.  Mahayana  abhidharmas 555  books 

D.  Hinayana  abhidharmas 695  books 

E.  Hinayana  vinayas 441  books 

Total 5254  books 

Now  according  to  the  orthodox  section  of  the',  Mahayana 
school  the  Canon  with  these  divisions  of  Mahayana  and 
Hinayana  and  the  subdivisions  of  Sutra,  Vinaya,  and  Abhi- 
dharma  was  fixed  in  the  main  the  year  after  Gautama's  death 
at  a  great  council  of  his  disciples  gathered  at  Rajagriha.  It 
is  of  course  quite  probable  that,  as  Buddhist  tradition  claims, 
a  council  was  held  by  the  Buddha's  disciples  soon  after  his 
death ;  but  it  is  utterly  out  of  the  question  that  the  Canon 
should  have  been  fixed  then  and  there  in  an^^thing  like  its 
present  form.  Not  even  in  the  more  simple  form  as  pre- 
served in  the  Pali  scriptures  could  it  have  been  finished  at 
such  an  early  date ;  for  as  it  appears  now  the  Pali  Canon  is 
really  only  the  Canon  of  one  of  the  sects  of  early  Buddhism 
and  has  on  the  face  of  it  traces  of  later  dates.  And  as  for 
the  Northern  Canon,  or  rather  series  of  Canons,  one  has 
but  to  look  at  the  thirteen  Chinese  catalogues  mentioned 
above  to  see  how  absurd  such  a  claim  is. 


THE   BUDDHIST   CANON  169 

It  is  doubtful  whether  or  not  any  part  of  the  Canon  was 
committed  to  writing  immediately  after  Gautama's  death. 
The  Pali  Canon,  e.g.  was  not  fixed  on  the  written  page  until 
the  first  century  B.C.  Great  portions  of  the  Northern  Canon, 
even  great  sections  of  the  sutra  division,  could  not  possibly 
have  been  fixed  in  their  present  form  before  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era.  But  while  this  is  true,  we  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  no  books  in  the  Canon  were  fixed  at  an  early 
date.  Even  if  they  were  not  written  down  immediately 
after  Gautama's  death  it  seems  quite  likely  that  sections  of 
the  Vinaya-pitaka  were  fixed  more  or  less  definitely  at  the 
Rajagriha  Council  or  soon  after.  At  any  rate,  the  core  of 
these  Monks'  Rules,  it  would  seem,  must  have  taken  shape 
almost  from  the  beginning. 

If,  then,  portions  of  the  Canon  were  fixed  before  they 
were  committed  to  writing,  may  it  not  be  that  the  Pali 
Canon  was  fixed  long  before  it  was  committed  to  the  written 
page  in  the  first  century  before  Christ  ?  And  is  it  not  there- 
fore the  oldest  and  most  authoritative  Canon  of  primitive 
Buddhism  in  existence,  and  so  should  be  made  the  norm 
by  which  Buddhism  as  a  whole  is  to  be  measured?  We 
may  admit  that  the  Pali  Canon  was  fixed,  at  least  by  one 
sect,  before  it  w^as  committed  to  writing.  We  may  also  admit 
that  it  contains  the  main  teachings  of  Gautama,  though  it 
has  in  it  more  than  simply  the  teachings  of  the  founder. 
And  still  further,  we  must  admit  that,  taken  as  a  whole,  the 
Pali  Canon  comes  much  nearer  representing  the  teachings 
of  original  Buddhism  than  do  the  Northern  Canons  taken 
as  wholes.  But  this  does  not  mean  that  it  should  be  taken 
as  the  only  source  for  Gautama's  teachings,  nor  should  it 
be  assumed  that  those  portions  of  the  Northern  Canon 
which  are  essentially  the  same  as  portions  of  the  Pali  Canon, 
e.g.  the  four  Nikayas  (Agamas)  were  taken  from  the  latter. 
In  fact,  it  seems  quite  likely  that  some  of  the  Sanskrit  scrip- 
tures of  the  Northern  Canon  and  some  of  the  Pali  scriptures 
go  back  to  an  older  redaction  in  Magadhi,  the  language  of 
Magadha  which  S'akyamuni  probably  used.  So  it  is  quite 
possible  that  the  Northern  Canon  has  in  it  books  just  as 


170 


STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 


authoritative  as  those  found  in  the  Pali,  and,  perhaps,  even 
something  of  the  founder's  teachings  not  found  in  the  latter. 
Of  the  old  redaction  in  Magadhi  we  have  only  a  few  traces 
in  the  Pali  Canon  and  in  the  edict  of  Bairat  issued  by  King 
Asoka  in  the  third  century  B.C.  The  following  is  a  diagram 
of  the  probable  relationship  of  the  various  redactions  of  the 
Canon  of  Buddhism : 


Magadhi 


Sanskrit 


Brahmi 


Chinese 


/ 


The  Canon  in  Chinese  ^  with 
some  Sanskrit  scriptures  forms 
the  basis  of  the  Canon  as  found 
in  Tibet,  Nepal,  Mongolia,  Korea, 
and  Japan. 


Pali 


Singalese  Alphabet 
Burmese  Alphabet 
Siamese  Alphabet 
Kambodsha  Alphabet 


It  may  be  said  that  if  we  have  no  traces  of  Buddhist 
scriptures  older  than  the  third  century  B.C.  and  if  even  the 
Pali  Canon  was  not  committed  to  writing  until  the  first  cen- 
tury B.C.,  then  we  are  indeed  far  removed  from  the  possi- 
bility of  having  any  of  the  real  words  of  the  founder  of 
Buddhism.  It  is  true  that  Buddhism  cannot  lay  any  claim 
to  have  worked  its  way  back  to  the  historic  Buddha  and 
his  sayings  as  Christian  scholars  have  done  in  the  case  of 
their  Master ;  but  we  should  not  forget' that  even  if  the  trans- 
mission of  the  Buddha's  teachings  was  by  word  of  mouth 
rather  than  through  the  written  page,  there  is  still  the  pos- 
sibility of  having  a  rather  accurate  transmission.  This  is 
made  possible  by  the  form  in  which  the  teachings  of  Gau- 
tama's day  were  usually  cast,  namely,  a  style  which  to  the 
Western  mind  seems  like  a  weary  repetition,  but  which  made 
it  comparatively  easy  to  be  remembered.  Another  factor 
which  made  for  accuracy  of  transmission  is  the  phenomenal 
power  of  memory  of  the  Oriental  mind.     The  whole  system 


THE  BUDDHIST  CANON  171 

of  education  in  the  East  has  been  for  centuries  a  system 
of  committing  to  memory  what  others  have  said.  It  is  as- 
tonishing how  much  the  human  mind  can  retain  when 
trained  from  youth  on  in  this  way.  It  is  said  that  even 
today  there  are  men  in  India  who  can,  e.g.,  recite  the  whole 
Rig- Veda  —  1028  songs,  many  of  them  rather  long  —  with- 
out a  single  slip.  So  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  w^e  have  in 
the  Pali  Canon  and  in  some  of  the  scriptures  of  the  Northern 
Canon  something  of  the  real  teachings  of  the  founder  and 
sometimes  his  actual  phraseology.  But  after  this  has  been 
said,  it  is  none  the  less  absurd  to  hold  with  some  Buddhists 
of  Japan  that  the  entire  Sutra-pitaka  and  Vinaya-pitaka, 
especially  of  the  Mahayana  school,  go  back  that  far.  Even 
King  Asoka,  in  the  third  century  B.C.,  apparently,  knew 
nothing  of  the  threefold  division  of  the  sacred  scriptures; 
and,  as  we  have  said  in  Chapter  I,  the  whole  system  of 
]\Iahayana  Buddhism  had  not  been  born  in  his  day.  The 
most  that  we  can  say  is  that  there  were  only  tendencies 
pointing  in  that  direction.  In  short,  then,  we  may  grant 
to  the  Buddhists  of  China  and  Japan  that  in  their  volu- 
minous Canon  they  have  as  truly  the  teachings  of  the  founder 
as  do  the  Buddhists  of  the  South,  and  they  may  even  have 
some  things  of  the  master's  teachings  not  found  in  the  Pali 
Canon,  but  we  cannot  admit  that  the  scriptures  which  they 
usually  regard  as  the  very  words  of  S'akyamuni's  deepest 
teachings,  namely,  the  distinctively  jNIahayana  scriptures, 
are  such.  Many  of  the  most  popular  books  in  Japan  cannot 
go  farther  back  than  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 

The  sweeping  division  of  the  Buddhist  Canon  into  a 
Hinayana  Tri-pitaka  and  a  Mahayana  Tri-pitaka  did  not 
overcome  all  the  glaring  contradictions  found  in  the  North- 
ern Canon.  In  the  last  half  of  the  sixth  century  a.d.,  the 
learned  Chinese  priest  Chi  K'ai,  founder  of  the  great  T'ien 
T'ai  Sect,  worked  out  an  elaborate  scheme  of  harmoni- 
zation. He  divided  Gautama's  teachings  into  five  great 
periods,  and  into  these  he  tried  to  fit  the  various  scriptures 
by  arranging  and  rearranging  them  back  and  forth  until 
he  had  cleared  away,  as  he  thought,  all  the  difficulties  and 


172  .STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

contradictions.     Briefly  stated  the  scheme  was  as  follows : 

1.  The  first  period  of  the  Buddha's  long  ministry  ex- 
tended over  a  space  of  only  two  or  three  weeks  following 
immediately  upon  the  hour  when  the  Great  Enlightenment 
had  dawned  upon  him.  In  this  first  period  he  preached  the 
undiluted  and  perfect  truth  as  he  saw  it  in  his  Buddhahood. 
His  audience  were  not  the  ordinary  people  of  India,  but 
the  innumerable  Bodhisattvas,  gods  and  heavenly  beings. 
This  period  is  called  in  Japanese  the  Kegon  period  and  the 
teachings  are  recorded  in  the  famous  Kegonkyo  (Buddhava- 
tamsaka-Mahavaipulya-sutra)  which  has  been  used,  per- 
haps, as  widely  by  Buddhist  scholars  in  Japan  as  any  other 
scripture. 

2.  When  the  Buddha  realized  that  his  exalted  teachings 
were  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  average  human  being,  he 
began  to  dilute  his  teachings,  as  it  were,  and  accommodated 
them  to  the  understanding  of  the  common  man.  It  was 
during  this  period  that  he  taught  the  Four  Noble  Truths 
about  suffering  and  salvation  from  suffering  and  the  Noble 
Eightfold  Path.  To  know  these  truths  and  to  follow  this 
path  led  to  the  Arhat  state  which  is  the  goal  of  Hinayana 
teachings.  This  second  period  extended  over  twelve  years, 
and  the  teachings  are  to  be  found  in  the  ordinary  Hinayana 
scriptures. 

3.  But  when  the  master  perceived  that  his  disciples  took 
this  accommodated  teaching  of  the  Hinayana  scriptures  as 
the  full  truth,  he  began  to  show  them  that  he  had  yet  many 
things  to  say  unto  them  and  that  what  he  had  taught  them 
thus  far  was  only  preparatory  to  the  higher  truth.  He  now 
began  to  teach  them  the  way  of  true  enlightenment,  the 
enlightenment  not  of  the  Arhat  who  seeks  only  his  own 
salvation,  but  that  of  the  Bodhisattva  who  is  interested  also 
in  the  salvation  of  others.  This  period  is  called  the  Hodo 
period  and  lasted  eight  years.  The  teachings  of  this  period 
are  recorded  in  the  ordinary  Mahayana  scriptures. 

4.  Now  when  the  disciples  heard  these  lofty  teachings  of  the 
third  period  they  felt  that  they  were  too  high  for  the  aver- 
age man  and  that  for  him  the  Hinayana  doctrines  were 


THE  BUDDHIST  CANON  173 

better  suited.  Only  the  one  destined  to  be  a  Bodhisattva, 
they  felt,  could  comprehend  the  profound  truths  of  the 
Mahayana  teaching.  The  Buddha  thereupon  showed  them 
that  nothing  hindered  even  the  average  man  from  becoming 
a  follower  of  Mahayana  truth  and  attaining  true  enlighten- 
ment. The  disciples  were  thus  led  to  see  that  there  was  no 
chasm  between  the  Hinayana  and  the  Mahayana,  but  that 
the  former  was  really  a  vehicle  for  the  first  part  of  the  jour- 
ney and  from  it  the  passenger  could  transfer  to  the  latter 
and  continue  his  journey  till  he  arrived  at  his  true  desti- 
nation. This  fourth  period  is  called  the  Hannya  period  and 
extended  over  twenty-two  years  of  the  master's  long  minis- 
try. The  leading  scripture  containing  the  teachings  of  this 
period  is  the  voluminous  IMahapragnaparamita-sutra  which 
teaches  the  deep  Mahayana  doctrines  in  simplicity. 

5.  Finally  when  the  Buddha  reached  the  advanced  age 
of  seventy-two,  he  began  to  preach  the  deepest  and  highest 
truths  of  all,  namely;  that  all  sentient  beings  are  able  to 
attain  Buddhahood  and  enjoy  the  blessings  of  Nirvana. 
For  this  purpose  he  had  left  his  heavenly  home  and  endured 
hardships  during  many  incarnations  that  he  might  lead  all 
living  beings  into  the  bliss  of  Nirvana.  These  teachings  are 
contained  in  the  famous  Lotus  Scripture,  Saddharma- 
Pundarika-sutra  (My oho  Renge-kyo,  or  Hokkekyd).  In 
this  closing  period  the  Buddha  preached  also  the  teachings 
of  the  Paradise  Scripture  (]\Iahaparinirvana-sutra  (Ne- 
hankyo),  in  which  he  showed  that  all  beings,  animate  and 
inanimate,  have  the  nature  of  Buddha  and  so  can  attain 
Buddhahood.  This  period  is  called  the  Nehan  or  Hokke 
period  and  extended  over  eight  years. 

According  to  the  Amida  sects  of  Japan,  to  this  last  period 
also  belong  the  teachings  of  the  famous  Paradise  or  Amida 
scriptures ;  namely.  The  Larger  Sukhavati-vyuha  (Daimuryo- 
juky5).  The  Smaller  Sukhavati-vyuha  (Amidakyo),  and 
Amita-yur-dhyana-sutra  (Kwammuryojukyo).  These  scrip- 
tures teach  the  great  doctrine  of  salvation  through  faith  in 
the  Buddha  Amida,  who  has  prepared  for  those  who  trust 
in  him  his  Western  Paradise. 


174  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Thus  far  Chi  K'ai's  classification  of  the  founder's  teach- 
ings. It  was  undoubtedly  an  ingenious  piece  of  work  and 
would  do  credit  to  some  of  our  modern  harmonists.  For  a 
period  of  about  one  thousand  years  it  allayed  the  doubts  of 
the  skeptics  and  gave  authority  to  the  most  contradictory 
teachings  found  in  the  sacred  scriptures.  Just  as  men 
used  various  means  of  transportation,  so  in  religion  there 
are  various  ways  of  salvation.  The  founder  of  Buddhism 
knew  all  these  ways  and  taught  them  all,  and  the  pious 
Buddhist  must  recognize  in  this  a  wise  provision  for  the 
varied  needs  of  humanity ;  yea,  a  provision  for  the  needs  of 
all  beings,  for  the  Buddha  heart  seeks  to  save  all.  But  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  when  in  Japan  the  Neo-Confucian 
and  Neo-Shinto  movement  began  to  make  itself  felt,  the 
Buddhists,  too,  began  to  question  the  explanation  of  the 
Five  Periods.  As  we  stated  in  the  last  chapter,  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Tominaga  began  to  advance  views  which  were 
calculated  to  upset  this  convenient  solution  offered  by  Chi 
K'ai.  Tominaga's  contention,  in  short,  was  that  the  scrip- 
tures which  Chi  K'ai  assigned  to  the  first,  fourth,  and  fifth 
periods  of  Gautama's  ministry  were  in  reality  the  products 
of  later  centuries,  and  that  his  real  teachings  were  contained 
in  the  Hinayana  Tri-pitaka.  Though  these  views  attracted 
comparatively  little  attention  at  the  time,  they  did  mark  the 
beginning  of  that  Higher  Criticism  among  Japanese  Bud- 
dhists which  is  finding  more  and  more  champions  as  the  years 
go  on,  and  which  some  day  ought  to  help  solve  the  great 
problems  which  the  Canon  of  Northern  Buddhism  presents. 

The  following  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  stage  which  the 
controversy  between  conservative  and  liberal  Buddhists  has 
reached  on  this  question  :  ^ 

(1)  The  conservative  position  as  represented  by  one  of 
the  leading  Buddhist  scholars  of  the  day.  Dr.  Inouye  Enryo. 

a.  Mahayana  is  not  inconsistent  with  Hinayana.  It  is 
found  in  germ  in  the  latter  and  has  developed  from  it.  The 
one  is  as  truly  the  direct  teaching  of  the  founder  as  the 
other. 

b.  Mahayana  was  given  in  secret  by  the  master  to  his 


THE  BUDDHIST  CANON  175 

disciples  to  be  kept  secret  until  the  time  came  when  the 
world  was  ready  to  receive  it. 

c.  The  Buddha  himself  taught  the  Mahayana,  but  after 
he  had  entered  Nirvana  it  proved  too  lofty  for  the  majority 
of  mankind.  For  this  reason  it  was  little  known  in  the  early 
period  of  Buddhism.  Only  by  the  time  of  Asvaghosha®  and 
Nagarjuna  was  the  world  ready  to  receive  it,  and  these  two 
great  teachers  were  the  ones  who  made  known  this  lofty 
teaching  to  the  world. 

d.  Though  the  Buddha  taught  both  Mahayana  and 
Hinayana,  the  former  was  of  such  philosophic  depth  that  the 
simple-minded  inhabitants  of  South  and  Central  India  could 
not  grasp  it  and  only  the  people  of  North  India  compre- 
hended this  wisdom.  Thus  it  was  quite  natural  that  five  or 
six  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  the  Buddha  the  people 
of  South  and  Central  India  did  not  even  know  that  there 
ever  was  a  Mahayana ;  and  therefore  when,  at  the  time  of 
Asvaghosha,  —  a  time  when  non-Buddhist  ideas  were 
prevalent,  —  Mahayana  was  brought  to  these  people,  they 
declared  that  it  was  not  the  master's  teachings,  but  that  only 
the  Hinayana  came  from  him. 

(2)  And  now  let  us  give  a  brief  statement  of  the  liberal 
wing  as  represented  by  Nukariya  Kaifu,  a  learned  priest  of 
the  Zen  Sect. 

a.  The  Buddha's  direct  teachings  are  found,  with  perhaps 
some  modifications,  in  the  four  Agamas  (Nikayas)  and  in 
the  Vinaya-pitaka  as  preserved  in  the  present  Chinese  Tri- 
pitaka. 

b.  About  the  time  of  King  Asoka  (middle  of  the  third 
century  B.C.)  a  beginning  was  made  to  commit  the 
commandments  and  teachings  of  the  master  to  writing. 
Down  till  that  time  they  had  been  handed  on  by  word 
of  mouth. 

c.  The  present  Agamas  were  compiled  after  the  council 
convened  by  King  Asoka. 

d.  In  the  course  of  the  development  of  the  Hinayana  there 
came  into  existence  some  eighteen  or  twenty  schools  or  sects 
of  Buddhism.^ 


176  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

e.  From  some  of  these  Hinayana  branches  developed  the 
Mahayana  school. 

/.  Some  Mahayana  scriptures  were  written  as  early  as 
the  first  century  a.d. 

g.  The  last  of  the  true  Mahayana  scriptures,  e.g.  such 
scriptures  as  the  ]\Iantra-sutras,  were  composed  as  late  as 
the  seventh  century. 

h.  The  Chinese  Tri-pitaka  contains  also  scriptures  com- 
posed by  Chinese  Buddhists. 

This,  then,  is  in  short  the  attitude  of  the  conservative  and 
liberal  wings  among  modern  Buddhists  toward  the  problem 
of  the  relation  between  Hinayana  and  Mahayana  Buddhism. 
The  conservative  wing  holds  that  both  Hinaj'ana  and  Ma- 
hayana are  in  substance  the  very  teachings  of  the  master 
himself,  i.e.  essentially  the  position  held  by  Chi  K'ai ;  whereas 
the  liberal  wing  recognizes  the  fact  that  INIahayana  Bud- 
dhism is  a  much  later  development  and  is  only  the  teaching 
of  the  Buddha  in  the  sense  that  it  developed  historically 
from  primitive  Buddhism.  The  majority  of  Western  scholars 
who  are  in  a  position  to  have  an  intelligent  opinion  on  this 
vexed  problem  side  with  the  liberal  wing ;  but  they  would 
go  a  step  farther  and  say  that  Mahayana  is  not  simply  a 
developed  form  of  Buddhism,  but  that  it  also  has  in  it  much 
which  is  not  strictly  Buddhistic.  It  has  historical  connec- 
tion with  primitive  Buddhism,  but  it  also  has  vital  con- 
nections with  other  systems  and  streams  of  life,  so  that  in 
many  of  its  phases  it  is  Buddhist  only  in  name. 

But  the  problems  which  confront  the  scholar  who  attempts 
to  trace  the  historical  development  of  Buddhism  and  unravel 
the  many  strands  —  Buddhist  and  non-Buddhist  —  which  go 
to  make  up  the  Canon  of  Northern  Buddhism  are  so  stu- 
pendous that  it  may  take  centuries  before  even  an  outline 
of  a  satisfactory  solution  will  be  worked  out.  No  one  set 
of  scholars,  whether  Oriental  or  Occidental,  is  sufficient  for 
the  task.  It  is  like  digging  a  long  tunnel  in  which  the  work 
must  be  carried  on  from  both  ends.  The  Western  scholar 
must  dig  through  Greek,  Roman  and  Near-Eastern  civiliza- 
tions, while  the  Oriental  scholar  will  have  to  try  to  meet  this 


THE   BUDDHIST  CANON  177 

tunnel  from  his  end  through  Indian,  Japanese  and  Chinese 
civilizations.  The  center  of  the  tunnel  is  in  the  life  and 
civilization  of  the  people  which  once  occupied  Central  Asia 
—  that  part  of  the  world  about  which  we  know  least.  In 
fact,  it  seems  very  doubtful  as  to  whether  we  shall  ever 
know  enough  to  pierce  this  great  terra  incognita  in  which  lie 
hidden  the  secrets  of  those  centuries  of  Buddhist  history 
during  which  the  Mahayana  school  came  into  being. 

But  this  search  is  a  fascinating  work  and  one  which  has 
many  interesting  and  valuable  by-products ;  for  even  if  we 
fail  in  our  main  problem  of  discovering  a  historical  connection 
between  Buddhism  and  Western  thought,  or  of  showing  that 
there  w^as  no  such  connection,  we  shall  at  least  be  able  to 
show  on  a  very  large  scale  that  the  human  race  is  one  in  its 
needs  and  in  its  attempts  to  meet  these  needs.  If  East  is 
East  and  West  is  West  and  never  the  twain  have  met  his- 
torically {i.e.  in  ancient  times),  it  does  not  follow  that  "never 
the  twain  shall  meet."  The  more  we  know  of  the  thought- 
life  of  the  East  the  more  do  we  see  the  kinship  of  all  races ; 
and  this,  we  hold,  will  be  one  of  the  by-products  of  the 
scholar's  work  who  is  trying  to  unravel  the  many  strands 
that  go  to  make  up  Buddhism.  A  second  by-product  will  be 
a  deeper  appreciation  of  the  Christian  religion.  "What  can 
they  know  of  England  who  only  England  know?"  So  it  is 
with  religion ;  it  is  impossible  to  have  a  keen  appreciation 
and  full  understanding  of  Christianity  unless  one  sees  it  in 
the  light  of  the  world's  other  great  religions.  It  is  high 
time  that  Western  scholars  take  a  wider  outlook  upon  the 
world,  and  through  a  knowledge  of  Oriental  thought  help 
lay  the  foundations  for  that  sympathy  for  Asia's  millions 
which  alone  can  make  the  inevitable  meeting  of  East  and 
West  a  blessing  rather  than  a  curse.  But  this  is  a  digres- 
sion and  we  must  return  to  the  subject  in  hand. 

While  theoretically  all  Japanese  Buddhists  regard  the 
Canon  as  sacred  and  as  embodying  the  teachings  of  the 
founder,  in  practice  the  different  sects  manifest  rather  di- 
vergent tendencies  in  their  attitude  toward  the  scriptures. 
As  may  be  seen  from  what  has  been  said  above,  the  Bible  of 

N 


178  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Northern  Buddhists  is  entirely  too  voluminous  to  be  used  as 
a  whole  in  a  practical  way.  Even  the  Christian  Bible  is 
too  large  for  most  Christians  and  many  portions  of  it  re- 
main closed  books ;  and  how  could  a  Buddhist  be  expected 
to  make  use  of  his  big  Bible  with  its  more  than  5000  books  ? 
There  are  in  general  three  different  attitudes  taken  by  the 
Japanese  sects.  At  one  extreme  are  sects  like  the  old  Sanron 
and  the  Tendai  which  make  a  pretense  of  using  all  the  scrip- 
tures, regarding  each  scripture  as  having  its  own  peculiar 
function.  At  the  other  extreme  is  the  Rinzai  branch  of  the 
Zen  Sect  which  holds  that  no  scripture  can  be  really  a  vehicle 
of  truth,  for  truth  cannot  be  transmitted  by  the  written 
page  but  must  be  communicated  from  heart  to  heart,  or  must 
be  discovered  in  one's  own  heart  through  silent  meditation. 
The  sacred  scriptures  are  only  the  footprints  on  the  sands  of 
time  made  by  the  wise  men  of  the  past  who  walked  in  the 
way  of  the  truth.  Between  these  two  positions  are  to  be 
found  the  majority  of  the  sects  which  for  practical  purposes 
make  a  selection  of  one  or  more  books  from  the  Canon  and 
make  these  their  Authoritative  or  Basal  Scriptures  and  the 
ones  to  be  specially  used  by  the  adherents  of  the  sect.  Thus 
we  have,  e.g.,  the  Amida  sects  selecting  as  their  Authorita- 
tive Scriptures  the  three  Amida  books;  namely,  the  Dai- 
muryojukyo,  the  Amidakyo  and  the  Kwammuryojukyo. 
The  Shingon  and  Xichiren  sects  regard  as  specially  sacred 
the  famous  Lotus  Scripture,  though  each  of  these  add  several 
other  books  as  Basal  Scriptures.  The  old  Kegon  Sect  was 
founded  on  the  Kegonkyo,  the  Sanron  Sect  on  three  scrip- 
tures. An  so  it  is  with  other  sects,  each  regarding  certain 
scriptures  as  specially  valuable  and  authoritative  for  the 
teachings  of  the  sect,  without,  however,  denying  thereby  the 
teachings  of  other  scriptures  in  the  Canon  which  may  seem 
quite  contradictory.  As  we  have  said  before,  the  average 
Buddhist  philosopher  is  exceedingly  tolerant  of  other  views 
and  regards  even  direct  opposites  as  but  two  sides  of  the  same 
shield. 

It  might  be  interesting  to  know  how  the  Tendai  Sect,  which 
theoretically  claims  that  every  scripture  has  each  its  special 


THE  BUDDHIST  CANON  179 

place,  succeeds  in  making  a  practical  use  of  them.  There  are 
two  sides  to  the  answer ;  one  a  bright  side  and  the  other  a 
dark  side.  As  a  matter  of  history  the  Tendai  Sect  of  Japan 
has  furnished  practically  all  the  great  men  who  founded 
the  sects  which  arose  after  the  ninth  century.  This  is  due 
directly  to  the  fact  that  Tendai  teachers  have  always  en- 
couraged a  wide  study  of  all  the  scriptures.  Of  course,  the 
result  of  this  was  disruption,  but  still  it  also  meant  a  broader 
development  of  Buddhism  as  a  whole.  The  dark  side  of  the 
picture  is  the  way  the  Tendai  Sect  ministers  to  the  spiritual 
needs  of  the  common  people.  Only  the  scholarly  priest  had 
access  to  the  wealth  of  scriptures ;  the  common  man  could 
not  do  anything  with  them  even  if  he  had  access  to  them. 
To  begin  with,  very  few  of  the  scriptures,  until  very  recently, 
have  been  translated  into  the  language  of  the  people,  though 
Buddhism  has  been  in  Japan  some  thirteen  centuries.  The 
texts  are  in  difficult  Chinese  which  only  an  educated  Japan- 
ese can  read.  Rather  than  translate  all  these  writings  the 
clever  priests  have  resorted  to  much  more  simple  methods  of 
giving  their  followers  the  benefits  of  their  contents.  Among 
other  things  they  have  introduced  from  China  a  Chinese  in- 
vention of  the  sixth  century,  namely,  the  huge  revolving 
bookcase  in  which  the  sacred  scriptures  are  placed,  and  the 
turning  of  the  case  by  the  pious  ignorant  believer  becomes  a 
popular  substitute  for  the  reading  of  its  contents.  The  be- 
liever is  told  that  "it  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  read  all 
the  Buddhist  scriptures  as  their  number  is  so  great ;  namely, 
6771  books.  Therefore  if  any  one  turns  this  case  three  times 
around  he  shall  have  as  much  merit  as  he  who  reads  the  books 
through.  Moreover  to  such  a  one  is  promised  long  life, 
prosperity,  and  protection  from  all  misfortune."  We  might 
add  for  the  reader's  edification  that  our  first  introduction  to 
the  Buddhist  Bible  of  Japan  was  of  this  nature,  but  un- 
fortunately the  only  profit  we  gained  by  this  method  of 
reading  was  simply  an  appreciation  of  the  weight  of  these 
many  books,  for  it  takes  quite  an  effort  to  make  such  a 
huge  case  revolve  even  with  the  assistance  of  the  attendant. 
His  profit  was  more  substantial  than  our  own  in  the  form 


180  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

of  a  few  coins  which  we  gave  him  for  his  assistance  in  en- 
abhng  us  to  master  these  sacred  scriptures  so  easily. 

Another  method  in  use  in  the  Tendai  Sect  is  what  a  visitor 
to  the  famous  Tennoji  in  Osaka,  e.g.,  may  see.  The  priests, 
eight  or  ten  in  number  sitting  in  a  row,  read  the  scriptures 
by  simply  letting  the  pages  glide  through  the  fingers  so  that 
each  reader  can  finish  a  set  of  ten  books  every  two  or  three 
minutes. 

But  even  the  sects  which  choose  only  a  few  scriptures 
from  the  voluminous  Canon  do  not  always  succeed  in  making 
these  the  common  possession  of  their  adherents.  The 
number  of  Japanese  homes  which  have  Buddhist  scriptures 
is  very  small,  and  still  fewer  are  the  homes  where  the  scrip- 
tures are  read.  The  scriptures  are  considered  too  profound 
in  their  content  to  be  understood  by  the  masses,  and  these 
are  taught  to  worship  blindly  the  books  rather  than  to  know 
what  these  books  have  to  say.  This  is  especially  true  of 
such  a  sect  as  the  Nichiren.  It  has  as  its  chief  scripture  one 
of  the  loftiest  in  the  entire  Canon,  and  if  its  contents  were 
really  known  by  the  people,  it  would  have  a  profound  influ- 
ence on  their  lives,  but  the  average  disciple  of  Nichiren  is 
taught  a  superstitious  reverence  of  the  book  and  nothing 
more.  The  prayer,  Xamu  Myoho  Renge-kyo,  "Hail  Thou 
Scripture  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Wonderful  Law,"  is  on  every 
disciple's  lips,  but  what  that  Wonderful  Law  might  be,  few 
indeed  have  the  slightest  idea. 

This  superstitious  reverence  for  the  sacred  scriptures  as 
such,  irrespective  of  knowing  their  contents,  has  found 
expression  in  many  ways.  For  example,  it  has  always  been 
regarded  as  a  work  of  great  merit  to  be  engaged  in  copying 
the  scriptures,  and  at  times  even  emperors  and  princes  have 
labored  faithfully  in  the  capacity  of  scribes  of  the  sacred  law. 
There  are  some  manuscripts  in  existence  written  in  human 
blood,  the  zealous  scribe  thus  literally  pouring  out  his  life- 
blood  for  the  transmission  of  the  holy  text.  In  China  it  was 
regarded  as  a  meritorious  work  to  pick  up  any  piece  of  paper 
on  which  anything  was  written,  for  the  writing  might  be 
words  from  the  scriptures.     In  the  face  of  such  reverence 


THE  BUDDHIST  CANON  181 

among  pious  Buddhists  for  the  very  paper  and  ink  with 
which  their  scriptures  are  written,  it  becomes  clear  at  once 
that  the  Christian  worker  who  comes  to  these  people  with  a 
"Thus  saith  the  Bible,"  thinking  that  therefore  he  will  be 
heard,  will  be  sadly  disappointed.  Unless  he  can  show  from 
the  contents  of  his  Bible  that  it  is  the  word  of  the  Lord,  his 
mere  dogmatic  claim  that  it  is  such  will  not  go  very  far. 
With  the  advance  of  education  this  line  of  approach  is  being 
made  more  easy,  for  it  is,  after  all,  only  the  ignorant  who 
are  held  by  their  reverence  for  their  scriptures  without  know- 
ing what  these  contain.  The  more  progressive  Buddhists 
are  trying  now  to  give  the  people  access  to  the  best 
parts  of  the  Canon.  They  are  publishing  in  attractive 
form,  and  in  Japanese,  either  whole  books  or  selections  from 
a  number  of  the  best  books.  Such  selections  are  grouped 
topically  and  even  the  uneducated  can  thus  get  some  first- 
hand knowledge  of  the  teachings  of  Buddhism.  Then  in 
addition  to  this  the  leading  sects  are  publishing  in  Japanese 
what  might  be  called  Sectarian  Bibles,  i.e.  each  sect  is  pub- 
lishing its  own  Basal  or  Authoritative  Scriptures  in  very 
attractive  bindings.  Some  of  these  have  had  a  rather 
phenomenal  success.  Thus,  e.g.,  the  volume  issued  by  the 
Shingon  Sect  passed  through  forty-five  reprints  in  four  years, 
and  the  Zen  Bible  through  eighteen  in  about  the  same 
length  of  time.  Just  how  successful  this  undertaking  will 
be,  remains  to  be  seen.  Thus  far  the  average  Japanese,  how- 
ever much  he  may  have  absorbed  from  the  semi-Buddhistic 
atmosphere  in  which  he  lives,  knows  very  little  indeed  of 
what  Buddhism  stands  for  in  general  or  what  the  various 
sects  stand  for  in  particular.  So  much  is  this  the  case  that 
the  foreign  student  of  the  history  or  philosophy  of  Buddhism 
will  often  seek  in  vain  to  find  out  much  from  the  average 
man  he  meets,  and  even  among  the  priests  there  are  very 
few  who  seem  to  have  a  grasp  of  the  subject.  Still  fewer  are 
those  who  have  any  definite  conviction  as  to  Buddhism's 
mission  to  modern  Japan.  This  condition,  we  believe,  is 
largely  due  to  the  fact  that  Buddhism  has  no  Bible  in  any 
real  sense,  for  however  much  truth  those  thousands  of  pages 


182  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

of  the  Canon  may  contain,  it  is  so  covered  up  with  the  rub- 
bish of  centuries  that  it  is  impossible  to  extricate  it  and 
make  it  a  living  force  to-day.  Nothing  will  give  a  Christian 
a  deeper  appreciation  of  the  value  of  his  Bible  and  the  mar- 
velous Providence  which  has  kept  it  so  pure  and  so  "  practi- 
cally small"  as  a  study  of  the  clumsy  Buddhist  Bible.  He 
will  thank  God  as  never  before  for  this  Book  of  Books. 


CHAPTER  V 

Outline  of  Main  Doctrines  of  Japanese  Buddhism 

In  giving  an  outline  of  the  main  doctrines  of  Japanese 
Buddhism  one  is  naturally  tempted  to  follow  the  general 
divisions  into  which  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity  are 
usually  divided  by  modern  writers  on  Systematic  Theology. 
This  has  the  great  advantage  of  enabling  the  reader  to 
constitute  a  comparison  between  the  main  teachings  of  the 
two  religions,  and  for  this  reason  we  shall  not  depart  en- 
tirely from  such  a  course  of  procedure  in  this  chapter.  But 
to  be  true  to  the  subject  in  hand,  we  must  depart  from  this 
course  at  least  at  the  beginning  and  deal  first  with  subjects 
which  are  very  fundamental  but  which  in  books  on  System- 
atic Theology  are  usually  left  to  works  on  philosophy  and 
psychology. 

A.   Summary  Statement  of  Teachings 

Perhaps  the  most  concise  expression  of  the  essence  of 
Buddhist  teachings  is  the  pregnant  phrase,  "Tenmei  Kaigo." 
"  Turning  from  error  and  opening  understanding."  Man  is 
in  error  and  ignorance  and  he  must  turn  from  this  and  open 
his  understanding.  The  whole  mode  of  the  Buddhist  sal- 
vation is  expressed  primarily  in  terms  of  right  thinking 
rather  than  in  terms  of  right  moral  purpose,  and  the  great 
obstacle  in  man's  waj^  is  error  rather  than  sin.  Enlighten- 
ment is  the  great  word  of  Buddhism,  and  Enlightenment 
means  to  know  the  truth.  We  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
Buddhism  does  not  also  have  a  good  deal  to  say  about  sin 
and  righteous  conduct  but  only  that  these  are  secondary. 

To  the  pregnant  expression  given  above  are  sometimes 
added  two  other  expressions,  and  all  three  taken  together 

183 


184  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

give  a  comprehensive  summary  of  Buddhist  doctrines.  The 
complete  statement  is,  "Tenmei  kaigo,  riku  tokuraku, 
shiaku  shuzen."  "Turning  from  error  and  opening  under- 
standing, escaping  from  suffering  and  obtaining  bliss,  ceasing 
from  evil  and  doing  good."  All  living  beings  have  beclouded 
the  reason  of  things  and  so  through  error  they  commit 
evil  deeds  and  in  consequence  are  doomed  to  suffer.  Through 
the  teachings  of  Buddhism  man  is  to  learn  the  truth.  This 
will  show  him  what  is  the  right,  and  by  obedience  to  the 
right  he  escapes  from  suffering  and  enters  bliss.  Or  to  put 
it  in  Western  thought,  man  is  to  think  the  truth,  do  the  good 
and  feel  the  beautiful.  This,  in  short,  is  the  general  sum- 
mary of  Buddhist  teachings,  and  when  given  in  this  general 
form  there  would  seem  to  be  little  difference  between  Bud- 
dhism and  Christian  thought.  But  when  we  come  to  inquire 
into  what  is  meant  by  the  true,  the  good  and  the  beautiful, 
we  shall  find  great  differences  between  Buddhist  and  Chris- 
tian thought  and  also  between  the  different  schools  and  sects 
of  Buddhism. 

B.    Theory  of  Knowledge 

The  first  step  in  the  exposition  of  Buddhist  doctrines 
must  necessarily  be  in  the  line  of  a  few  remarks  on  the  prob- 
lem of  knowledge.  This  problem  is,  of  course,  important 
in  any  system  of  thought,  but  in  Buddhist  philosophy  it 
is  peculiarly  so,  and  it  is  quite  impossible  to  make  any 
headway  in  our  understanding  of  it  unless  we  ever  bear  in 
mind  what  Buddhists  mean  by  knowledge  and  truth. 

As  the  expression,  "  Turning  from  error  and  opening  under- 
standing" implies,  all  human  knowledge  may  be  divided  into 
two  great  divisions;  namel}^  Error  and  Truth.  Such  a 
division  is,  however,  too  clear-cut,  for  there  is  much  of  our 
knowledge  which  can  be  called  neither  pure  truth  nor  abso- 
lute error ;  and  so  Buddhists  usually  divide  knowledge  into 
three  divisions;  namely.  Illusion,  Relative  Truth  and  Abso- 
lute Truth.  Or  in  case  we  divide  knowledge  into  Error  and 
Truth,  Truth  itself  is  divided  into  two  divisions;  namely, 
Relative  or  Accommodated  Truth  and  Perfect  or  Absolute 


BUDDHIST  THEORY  OF  KNOWLEDGE  185 

Truth.  All  human  knowledge,  then,  is  either  Illusion,  Rela- 
tively True,  or  Absolute  Truth.  An  ancient  and  popular 
illustration  of  this  threefold  division  is  that  of  a  piece  of 
rope  seen  in  the  twilight.  Seeing  its  general  shape,  one 
may  take  it  for  a  snake  (Illusion).  One  may  see  that  it 
is  a  rope  and  not  think  any  further  as  to  its  constituent 
elements  (Relative  Truth).  Or  one  may  know  that  it  is 
a  rope  made  of  grass,  i.e.  understand  its  real  make-up 
(Absolute  Truth).  The  knowledge  of  the  average  man  is 
largely  illusion  and  error.  He  holds  a  naive  realistic  view 
and  thinks  that  everything  is  in  reality  just  what  it  appears 
to  be.  Relative  or  Accommodated  Truth  is  a  step  towards 
perfect  knowledge  or  Absolute  Truth.  This  kind  of  knowl- 
edge penetrates  somewhat  into  the  reality  of  things,  but  it 
does  not  see  things  in  their  real  essence.  To  this  class  of 
knowledge  belongs  practically  all  our  so-called  knowledge 
of  the  phenomenal  world  and  the  things  we  deal  with  in  our 
practical  life.  In  our  practical  life,  e.g.,  we  make  distinc- 
tions between  things.  We  say  this  is  good  and  that  is 
bad,  this  is  beautiful  and  that  ugly,  this  is  large  and  that 
small,  this  is  light  and  that  heavy,  etc.  All  these  distinc- 
tions have  a  practical  value,  and  such  knowledge  is  to  be 
regarded  as  knowledge  when  contrasted  with  error;  but, 
after  all,  this  is  only  relative  knowledge.  These  distinctions 
which  we  make  in  the  world  of  phenomena  may  seem  im- 
portant and  real,  but  in  the  last  analysis  they  are  not  what 
they  seem.  They  are  mere  appearances  of  a  reality  in  which 
these  distinctions  have  no  real  meaning.  The  wise  man  must 
go  beyond  this  sort  of  knowledge  of  reality,  he  must  attain 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  Absolute  Truth  and  see  things  as 
they  really  are.  He  must  get  back  of  the  appearances  to 
the  things  themselves.  He  must  know  not  merely  the 
phenomena  but  the  noumena,  or  rather  the  Noumenon, 
"Das  Ding  an  Sich"  of  Kant. 

The  Western  student  of  philosophy  is,  of  course,  quite 
familiar  with  Kant's  epoch-making  work  on  this  problem 
of  human  knowledge.  He  knows  what  a  great  contribution 
Kant  made  when  he  showed  that  in  all  our  thinking  the 


186  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

thinking  subject  contributes  something  to  the  object  per- 
ceived so  that  what  we  know  seems  a  sort  of  "construct" 
composed  of  the  object  known  and  the  knowing  subject. 
That  is,  knowledge  is  not  a  mere  impress  of  the  object  on 
the  thinking  subject,  or  a  mere  writing  on  an  empty  tablet, 
but  the  thinking  subject  is  active  rather  than  passive  in 
the  process.  So  much  of  Kant's  theory  of  knowledge  must 
be  accepted  as  valid.  But  when  Kant  proceeded  to  show 
how  our  knowledge  is  a  knowledge  not  of  things  as  they 
really  are  in  themselves  but  only  as  they  appear  (with  the 
implication  that  appearance  does  not  give  us  reality),  we 
cannot  follow  Kant.  And  especially  when  Kant  tries  to 
draw  a  line  between  what  he  calls  the  Empirical  Ego  and  the 
Transcendental  or  Ontological  Ego,  and  says  that  we  know 
the  former  but  not  the  latter,  we  must  reject  his  epistemology 
at  this  point  altogether.  The  self  knows  nothing  better 
than  the  self  of  self-consciousness,  and  if  this  is  not  the  real 
self,  or  the  noumenal  ego,  then  there  is  no  noumenal  ego, 
nor  has  Kant  even  the  right  to  express  the  judgment  that 
the  empirical  ego  is  not  the  noumenal  ego. 

Now  Buddhism  makes  this  same  distinction  between  the 
phenomenal  and  the  noumenal  world  and  says  that  all  our 
ordinary  knowledge  is  only  of  the  phenomenal  world  and  so 
is  only  relatively  true.  The  knowledge  of  the  noumenal 
world  is  possible  only  to  the  one  who  has  reached  perfect 
enlightenment,  i.e.  to  one  who  has  attained  Buddhahood. 
He  who  has  attained  this  stage  is  able  to  see  that  the  dis- 
tinctions which  the  ordinary  man  makes  between  things 
have  no  real  existence  in  being  but  are  due  to  the  unen- 
lightened mind.  Not  that  existence  is  absolutely  void,  but 
that  the  phenomenal  world  appears  to  us  as  it  does  because 
we  are  what  we  are,  rather  than  because  it  is  so  in  itself. 
The  enlightened  one  knows  that  the  complex  and  multi- 
plicity of  the  phenomenal  world  is  really  a  simplicity  and 
Oneness  of  Being.  On  the  high  plane  of  Absolute  Truth 
one  enters  the  "Dharma  of  non-duality"  where  all  dis- 
tinctions and  antitheses  are  absorbed  in  a  higher  synthesis, 
where  one  can  see  the  "identity  of  differences"  and  the 


BUDDHIST  THEORY  OF  KNOWLEDGE  187 

"indifference  of  opposites."  (And  we  might  also  add,  one 
enters  the  realm  of  Fichte's  Absolute  in  which,  as  Hegel 
put  it,  one  is  in  "the  night  in  which  all  cows  are  black.") 
Even  the  distinction  between  error  and  truth  disappears, 
"because,"  says  a  modern  exponent,  "those  who  have  en- 
tered a  meditation  in  which  there  is  no  sense-impression, 
no  cogitation,  are  free  from  ignorance  as  well  as  from  en- 
lightenment. This  holds  true  with  all  the  other  dualistic 
categories."  When  one  has  entered  this  stage,  one  has 
entered  the  Nirvana  of  true  Buddhahood,  the  heaven  in 
which  even  the  distinction  between  existence  and  non- 
existence has  no  meaning. 

According  to  the  orthodox  Buddhist  theory  of  knowledge, 
then,  all  ordinary  human  knowledge  deals  but  with  the 
phenomenal  world  and  not  with  reality  itself.  This  knowl- 
edge of  the  phenomenal  world  is  "Hoben,"  Accommodated 
Truth,  i.e.  it  is  the  truth  accommodated  to  meet  the  needs 
of  unenlightened  minds.  There  is  an  Absolute  Truth  and  a 
perfect  knowledge,  but  only  for  the  fully  enlightened,  i.e. 
for  those  who  have  attained  Buddhahood. 

If  it  be  asked  on  what  grounds  Buddhism  makes  the  as- 
sertion that  there  is  an  Absolute  Truth  for  the  enlightened 
mind,  the  answer  is  that  this  must  be  taken  on  the  authority 
of  those  who  have  attained  Buddhahood.  Manifestly  to 
make  the  statement  that  our  knowledge  is  only  relative  and 
of  the  phenomenal  world,  implies  a  knowledge  of  the  real 
or  noumenal  world ;  and  this  judgment  that  our  knowl- 
edge is  relative  but  that  there  is  an  Absolute  Truth,  can 
therefore  not  be  made  by  ordinary  man  as  a  matter  of  knowl- 
edge but  must  be  accepted  oh  faith.  That  is,  the  ordinary 
Buddhist  accepts  on  faith  this  theory  of  truth  that  what 
the  unenlightened  mind  regards  as  true,  is  true  only  rela- 
tively and  that  the  Buddha  knows  reality  as  it  is  in  itself. 
The  Buddhist  theory  of  truth  is,  then,  in  the  last  analysis 
a  "credo  ut  intelligam." 

Of  course,  even  Christian  epistemology  would  not  claim 
that  human  knowledge  is  perfect  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
and  would  say  that  only  God  can  know  the  truth  perfectly. 


188  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE    BUDDHISM 

That  is,  Christian  epistemology  also  may  speak  of  human 
knowledge  as  relative,   but  not  relative  in  the  Buddhist 
sense.     It  is  relative  in  the  sense  that  it  is  fragmentary  and 
not  complete,  but  not  that  it  is  wholly  erroneous  when  com- 
pared with  perfect  truth.     In  the  words  of  Paul,  "We  know 
in  part,  and  we  prophesy  in  part;   but  when  that  which  is 
perfect  is  come,  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away." 
That  is,  our  partial  knowledge  is  the  real  stepping  stone  to 
the  full  truth,  and  it  is  true  knowledge  as  far  as  it  goes. 
A  Buddhist  illustration   will  bring  out  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  views  of  truth ;  namely,  the  illustration  of  the 
shield.     The  shield  seen  from  one  side  seems  convex  in  shape, 
and  from  the  opposite  side,  concave.     To  say  that  the  shield 
is  convex  in  shape,  is  a  true  statement.     But  the  Buddhist 
would  say  that  it  is  only  relatively  true,  because  one  can 
say  from  the  opposite  point  of  view  that  it  is  concave  in 
shape.     "Therefore,"  proceeds  Buddhist  epistemology,  "  the 
shield  is  both  convex  and  concave,  and  because  these  are 
opposites,  it  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  and  so  its 
real  nature  can  not  be  known."     Christian  epistemology 
would  say  that  the  shield  as  we  see  it  is  convex.     This  may 
be  only  a  partial  view  of  the  object.     If  it  is  also  concave 
when  seen  from  the  other  side,  then  the  two  appearances 
must  be  harmonized  so  as  to  do  justice  to  all  the  facts  known 
about  the   shield.     They   cannot  be  harmonized,  as   Bud- 
dhist epistemology  tries  to  harmonize  them ;  namely,  by  say- 
ing that  we  really  know  nothing  about  the  object  we  call 
a  shield.     But  if  our  knowledge  of  an  object  contains  con- 
tradictions, we  must  proceed  upon  the  basis  of  the  knowl- 
edge we  have  till  we  clear  these  away.     At  any  rate  we 
must  trust  our  knowledge  of  things  as  true  knowledge  even 
though  we  admit  that  it  is  not  perfect,  and  that  only  the 
absolute  mind  can  know  the  full  truth. 

The  Buddhist  theory  of  knowledge  is,  however,  not  ade- 
quately understood  until  one  gets  the  Buddhist  explanation 
of  the  origin  of  ignorance,  or  the  theory  of  Nescience.  All 
human  knowledge  is  really  a  Nescience.  If  the  phenomenal 
world  does  not  represent  the  noumenal  world,  how  is  it 


BUDDHIST  THEORY  OF  KNOWLEDGE  189 

that  the  phenomenal  world  appears  at  all?  Either  it  ap- 
pears without  a  cause,  or  if  it  has  a  cause,  the  cause  is  present 
in  the  phenomena  in  some  way,  and  to  that  extent  at  least 
the  noumenal  world  can  be  known  through  the  phenomenal 
world,  one  should  think.  That  the  phenomenal  world  does 
appear  to  us  no  one  can  deny  without  ending  in  absolute 
skepticism.  The  question  is,  why  does  it  appear  and  to 
what  does  it  appear? 

The  orthodox  Buddhist  reply  to  this  question  is  the  so- 
called  theory  of  Nescience.  The  phenomenal  world  as  known 
to  man  has  no  existence  as  such;  and  if  by  existence  we 
mean  the  things  that  appear  to  us.  Buddhism  holds  that 
existence  is  void.  It  is,  however,  not  void  in  the  sense 
that  nothing  at  all  exists,  but  only  in  the  sense  that  nothing 
really  exists  in  the  way  in  which  it  appears  to  us  to  exist. 
That  is.  Buddhism  asserts  the  reality  of  a  noumenal  world, 
and  the  true  Mahay  ana  school  even  affirms  the  presence  of 
the  noumenal  in  the  phenomenal,  but  denies  that  the  phe- 
nomenal world  is  in  reality  such  as  it  appears  to  us.  It 
appears  so  to  us  only  because  of  our  ignorance.  "  Every- 
thing that  is  subject  to  the  law  of  birth  and  death  exists 
only  (i.e.  in  the  way  it  appears  to  exist)  because  of  ignorance 
and   Karma." 

But  how  does  ignorance  arise,  and  by  what  process  do 
we  come  to  look  upon  things  as  we  do?  The  first  answer 
to  this  question  is  that  our  present  state  of  ignorance  arose, 
according  to  the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  from  past  states 
of  error  and  illusions,  and  our  present  state,  by  the  same 
law,  will  give  rise  to  future  states  of  ignorance.  Our  past 
states  of  ignorance  were  produced  by  the  law  of  Karma 
from  states  of  ignorance  still  further  back,  and  so  this  chain 
of  ignorance  stretches  backwards  into  an  indefinite  past, 
just  as  it  will  stretch  forwards  into  an  indefinite  future  unless 
it  is  broken  by  the  "  gospel  of  enlightenment." 

It  is  possible  to  distinguish  twelve  links  in  this  Chain  of 
Ignorance,  the  so-called  Twelve  Links  of  Cause  and  Cir- 
cumstance (Juni  inen).^  These  links  give  us  one  form  of 
the  Buddhist  conception  of  the  nature  of  man.     If  the  reader 


190 


STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 


i„j:^"t^' 


-jtWA*''^ 


does  not  clearly  understand  just  what  they  mean  —  and  we 
venture  to  think  that  he  will  not  —  he  should  remember 
that  it  is  due  to  the  fact  that  Western  psychology  does  not 
recognize  such  divisions,  and  also  because  it  is  impossible  to 
get  English  terms  to  convey  the  exact  meaning  of  the  orien- 
tal originals.     The  following  are  the  twelve  links  (Nidana)  : 

1 .  Ignorance  —  the  error  of  lusts  and  desire  in  a  previous 
life. 

2.  Latent  Impressions  —  the  deeds  of  good  and  evil  of  a 
previous  life. 

3.  Thought  Substance  —  the  beginning  of  the  psychic  as- 
pect of  the  uterine  life. 

4.  Name  and  Form  —  the  physical  beginnings  of  the 
uterine  life. 

5.  The  Six  Roots  —  the  development  of  eyes,  ears,  nose, 
tongue,  body  and  will  during  the  uterine  life. 

6.  Contact  —  the  Six  Roots  of  number  five  come  into  con- 
tact after  birth  with  the  Six  Dusts,  i.e.  the  physical  en- 
vironment. 

7.  Sensation  —  the  feeling  of  pain  and  pleasure  arising 
from  the  organs  of  sense. 

8.  Desire  —  the  lust  of  the  flesh. 

9.  Clinging  to  Existence  —  the  passion  and  pride  of  life 
which  drives  man  on  to  actions  which  produce  a  new  Karma 
of  good  or  evil. 

10.  Becoming  —  the  completion  of  Karma  in  the  present 
life. 

11.  Birth  —  the  new  life  which  shall  be  born  in  the  future 
as  a  result  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  present  life. 

12.  Decrepitude  and  Death  —  the  pain,  trouble,  sorrow, 
old  age  and  death  in  the  future. 

Numbers  1  and  2  refer  to  the  lusts  and  actions  of  the  pre- 
vious life.  Numbers  3-10  refer  to  the  present  life  begin- 
ning with  the  beginnings  of  the  uterine  life  and  ending  with 
death.  Numbers  11-12  refer  to  the  birth,  pain,  sorrow  and 
death  in  the  next  incarnation.  Death  at  the  end  of  our 
present  life  means  only  the  continuation  of  the  Karma- 
chain  (unless  it  is  broken  by  the  gospel  of  Buddha)  in  which, 


BUDDHIST  THEORY  OF  KNOWLEDGE  191 

in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  the  above  twelve  links  are 
discernible.  The  twelve  links  become,  each  in  turn,  the 
effect  of  a  'preceding  cause  and  the  cause  of  a  succeeding 
effect. 

Some  writers  leave  the  explanation  of  the  origin  of  ig- 
norance with  this  description  of  the  various  links  in  the 
Karma-chain,  though  Ignorance  constitutes  the  first  link 
in  the  chain  and  so  leaves  the  explanation  just  where  it 
began.  But  if  it  be  asked.  How  explain  the  origin  of  the 
first  link?  the  reply  is  that  it  arose  from  preceding  links 
ad  infinitum.  And  if  the  question  is  pushed  still  further, 
the  reply  is  that  the  very  question  as  to  the  origin  of  igno- 
rance is  ignorance  itself,  and  how  can  one  demand  that  a 
rational  answer  be  given  as  to  the  origin  of  the  irrational; 
or  still  better,  why  explain  the  origin  of  that  which  really 
does  not  exist  ?  for  on  the  high  plane  of  true  enlightenment 
one  can  see  that  ignorance  has  no  real  existence. 

Some  Buddhists,  however,  recognize  the  fact  that  such 
answers  are  either  quibbling  with  words  or  that  it  is  reason- 
ing in  a  circle,  and  so  they  meet  the  question  as  to  the  origin 
of  ignorance  with  the  bold  assertion  that  the  irrational  is 
an  original  element  of  existence.  That  is,  some  hold  that 
it  is  coeternal  with  the  rational  (a  sort  of  dualism),  or  that 
it  is  inherent  in  the  Absolute  and  arises  spontaneously. 
Ignorance,  which  is  reallv  svnonvmous  with  consciousness 
—  for  without  consciousness  there  would  be  no  ignorance  — 
is  caused  by  "  the  waves  of  mentation  which  are  ever  stirring 
up  the  ocean  of  eternal  tranquillity."  What  causes  these 
"waves  of  mentation,"  no  one  can  say  beyond  that  it  is  a 
part  of  the  eternal  nature  of  things  as  they  appear  to  igno- 
rant man. 

Ignorance,  then,  is  the  real  source  of  the  phenomenal 
world  as  it  appears  to  us,  since  it  is  the  first  link  in  the 
Karma-chain  by  which  the  Absolute  individualizes  itself  and 
becomes  conscious  in  man.  Man's  finite  mind,  in  turn, 
gives  rise  to  the  phenomenal  world  as  known  to  the  common 
man,  "Things  are  fundamentally  and  in  themselves  non- 
existent;   only  through  the  law  of  cause  and  circumstance 


192  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

have  they  come  to  be."  "All  things  are  the  product  of 
circumstance.  Apart  from  the  law  of  cause  and  circum- 
stance all  things  are  invisible."  From  the  standpoint  of 
Absolute  Truth  ignorance  has  no  real  existence  and  there- 
fore the  phenomenal  world  as  it  appears  to  man  has  no 
such  existence;  for,  as  we  have  said,  from  this  high  plane 
even  the  difference  between  truth  and  error,  being  and  non- 
being  have  no  meaning.  The  Enlightened  One  has  reached 
the  "Dharma  of  non-duality"  in  which  there  is  an  "iden- 
tity of  differences"  and  an  "indifference  of  opposites." 

C.   Buddhist  World  Views 

Upon  the  Buddhist  theory  of  knowledge  is  naturally  built 
the  Buddhist  world  view ;  or  rather,  world  views,  for  there 
are  three  more  or  less  distinct  ones.  These  are  the  Hinayana, 
the  Provisional  Mahayana,  and  the  True  Mahayana.  From 
the  standpoint  of  the  Mahayana  school  the  other  two  are 
only  relatively  true  and  so  correspond  to  the  second  division 
of  human  knowledge  mentioned  above,  i.e.  Relative  Truth. 
The  world  view  of  the  ignorant  masses  corresponds  to  the 
first  division ;  namely.  Illusion ;  whereas  the  True  Mahayana 
world  view  corresponds  to  Absolute  Truth. 

Both  the  Hinayana  and  the  Provisional  Mahayana,  we 
said,  are  regarded  by  INIahayana  Buddhists  as  relatively 
true.  They  are  said  to  be  two  extremes,  and  the  truth 
lies  in  the  middle,  the  Middle  Path  of  INIahayana.  We 
shall  state  briefly  what  these  two  extremes  are  and  then 
what  the  true  Middle  Path  is. 

1 .  Hinayana  World  View.  —  The  Hinayana  view  is  more 
or  less  a  realistic  world  view.  It  does  not,  of  course,  ac- 
cept the  naive  realism  of  the  unenlightened  masses  who  hold 
that  the  world  is  just  what  it  appears  to  be  and  that  there 
is  no  mystery  about  it.  It  approaches  the  problem  with  a 
critical  spirit  and  by  an  analytical  method  it  seeks  to  pene- 
trate into  the  inner  nature  of  existence.  To  begin  with, 
it  divides  reality  into  two  great  spheres ;  namely,  the 
phenomenal  and  the  noumenal,  or  Nirvana,  spheres.     The 


BUDDHIST   WORLD   VIEWS  193 

phenomenal  sphere  it  divides  into  two  subdivisions ;  namely, 
the  physical  and  the  psychic.  It  treats  the  phenomenal 
sphere  as  having  a  real  objective  existence  but  as  being  in 
a  constant  flux  and  therefore  lacking  the  element  of  per- 
manency. Of  the  Nirvana  sphere  it  has  little  to  say  except 
that  it  is  void  of  everything  found  in  the  phenomenal  sphere. 
The  Nirvana  sphere  cannot  therefore  be  known  through  the 
phenomenal  sphere,  for  there  is  no  real  connection  between 
them.  The  object  of  Hinayana  philosophy  is  to  free  man 
from  the  wanderings  of  the  phenomenal  world  into  the 
Nirvana  sphere  by  showing  him  what  is  the  real  nature  of 
his  life  and  the  whole  realm  of  phenomena. 

Thus  Hinayana  philosophy  proceeds  further  to  analyze 
the  things  which  make  up  the  world  of  phenomena.  The 
analysis  begins  with  man  himself,  for  he  is  the  best  example 
of  the  two  aspects  of  existence;  namely,  mind  and  matter. 
Man  is  shown  to  be  made  up  of  the  so-called  five  Skandhas  ^ 
—  Form,  Feeling,  Notion,  Predisposition  and  Discrimina- 
tion. Of  these  five  Skandhas,  the  first  is  physical  and  the 
remaining  four  are  psychical.  The  physical  aspect  of  man 
is  then  divided  into  the  Five  Indriyas  (Jap.  Gokon),  i.e. 
the  five  organs  of  sense,  and  into  the  five  Alambanas  (Jap. 
Goriki),  the  five  senses  as  distinguished  from  the  organs 
as  such.  The  psychic  elements  are  divided  into  two  groups, 
the  first  three  constituting  one  group  and  the  fourth  standing 
by  itself.  The  fourth,  i.e.  Discrimination,  is  said  to  be 
the  Mental  King,  and  the  other  three;  namely.  Feeling, 
Notion  and  Predisposition,  are  spoken  of  as  servants  of  the 
JNIental  King.  Sometimes  the  analvsis  is  carried  still  further 
and  the  upshot  is  that  by  this  division  of  the  psychic  and 
physical  of  man's  life,  Hinayana  Buddhism  tries  to  account 
for  the  phenomena  of  our  mental  life,  and  reaches  the  start- 
ling conclusion  that  the  self  of  self-consciousness  is  but 
an  illusion  and  is  simply  the  product  of  this  aggregate  of 
Skandhas. 

The  world  without,  Hinayana  seeks  to  understand  by 
the  same  analytical  process.  Thus  it  holds  that  matter 
in  general  is  made  up  of  minute  particles,  which  correspond 


194  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

very  much  to  the  atoms  of  modern  science.  These  minute 
particles  are  composed  of  the  four  Great  Kinds  (Jap.  Shi- 
daishu,  or  Shidai) ;  namely,  Earth  (Solids),  Water  (Liquids), 
Fire  (Heat)  and  Wind  (Movability).  These  four  great 
elements,  or  natures,  remain  ever  the  same,  and  by  combining 
in  different  degrees,  constitute  the  various  kinds  of  atoms; 
and  these,  in  turn,  compose  the  things  which  make  up  the 
phenomenal  world. 

While  Hinayana  asserts  the  reality  of  both  the  psychic 
and  the  physical  aspects  of  existence,  it  shows  a  monistic 
tendency  in  that  it  regards  the  four  Great  Kinds,  which 
make  up  the  physical  world,  as  qualities  rather  than  ele- 
ments, and  holds  that  if  the  process  of  division  were  carried 
far  enough  (some  say,  seven  raised  to  the  seventh  power 
in  the  case  of  an  atom)  matter  would  change  into  spirit. 
The  real  dualism  in  Hinayana  philosophy  is  the  dualism 
of  the  phenomenal  and  Nirvana  spheres.  It  asserts  the 
reality  of  both,  though  it  has  little  or  nothing  to  say  of  the 
latter. 

2.  Provisional  Mahay mia  World  View.  —  The  Provi- 
sional Mahayana  world  view  also  begins  by  speaking  of  the 
two  great  spheres  of  existence,  i.e.  the  phenomenal  and  the 
noumenal.  But  where  Hinayana  philosophy  divides  the 
phenomenal  sphere  into  two  subdivisions  and  speaks  of 
both  as  real.  Provisional  Mahayana  denies  the  reality  of 
the  outside  world  and  holds  it  to  be  the  product  of  impure 
thought.  The  outside  world  exists  only  in  the  mind  and  has 
no  objective  existence.  "  In  Buddhism  the  mind  is  made  the 
source  from  which  all  laws  (phenomena)  come."  "Mind 
takes  the  form  of  hell,  devils,  brutes,  heavenly  beings; 
in  fact  all  that  has  shape  and  form  is  the  product  of  mind." 
Starting  with  the  analysis  of  the  nature  of  man  advanced  by 
the  Hinayana  school,  Provisional  Mahayana  speculation  goes 
a  step  further  and  not  only  declares  the  self  of  self-con- 
sciousness to  have  no  real  existence,  but  also  tries  to  show 
how  this  illusion  arises  in  the  mind  and  how  the  mind  pro- 
duces the  illusions  of  the  outside  world  and  everything 
that  appears  in  consciousness. 


BUDDHIST  WORLD  VIEWS  195 

A  great  deal  of  Buddhist  literature  seems  to  give  expression 
to  this  world  view,  and  Western  writers  usually  take  this  as 
the  real  Buddhist  position.  Everything  is  regarded  as  mere 
illusion  and  as  devoid  of  reality.  As  we  said  above,  even 
the  self  is  said  to  be  non-existent  and  an  illusion.  One 
might  well  ask  how  this  can  be ;  for  if  the  self,  too,  is  an 
illusion,  it  must  be  an  illusion  to  something,  and  at  least 
that  Something  must  exist.  A  Something  does  exist  accord- 
ing to  the  Provisional  IMahayan  school;  namely,  the  nou- 
menal  world,  but  of  this  really  nothing  can  be  affirmed. 
The  one  thing  that  can  be  done  is  to  destroy  the  errors  and 
illusions  of  the  phenomenal  world.  That  is,  progress  in 
truth  is  achieved  only  by  destroying  error.  Thus,  e.g.  the 
old  Sanron  Sect,  which  is  the  best  representative  of  this 
school  in  Japan,  held  that  all  advance  in  truth  is  made 
through  a  denial  of  all  affirmations.  "Add  a  negation  and 
you  clear  away  all  illusion,  you  destroy  and  deny  thus 
every  error  and  misconception.  If,  e.g.  you  hold  to  the  prin- 
ciple of  birth,  clear  it  away  with  the  idea  of  death ;  and  if 
you  hold  to  death  as  a  principle,  destroy  it  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  birth.  If  you  hold  to  a  non-death  non-birth  princi- 
ple, destroy  it  with  the  non-non-birth  non-non-death  principle 
and  so  on  and  on.  Since  we  have  relative  and  finite  minds 
we  must  clear  away  ever^y-thing ;  for,  after  all,  not  one 
thing  in  our  minds  is  real."  Thus  negation  follows  upon 
negation  ad  infinitum. 

3.  Mahdydna  World  View.  —  But  this  world  view  which 
denies  the  reality  of  the  outside  world  is  regarded  by  the 
True  Mahayana  school  as  an  extreme  view.  The  view 
is  correct  in  so  far  as  it  seeks  to  destrov  all  illusions  but 
not  in  making  the  phenomenal  world  an  absolute  void. 
Mahayana  holds  that  the  phenomenal  world  is  real  because 
it  is  identical  with  the  noumenal  world.  That  is,  the  nou- 
menal  world  is  in  the  phenomenal  world  and  the  phenomenal 
rests  upon  the  noumenal.  But  this  does  not  mean  that 
reality  is  as  it  appears  to  the  unenlightened  mind.  The 
Mahayana  school  also  says  that  the  phenomenal  world  as 
it  appears  to  the  average  man  is  a  shadow  world  and  has 


196  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

no  existence  as  such.  Even  the  self  known  in  self-con- 
sciousness has  no  real  existence  in  the  way  it  appears  to 
exist,  but  it  is  not  an  absolute  void.  It  has  no  individual 
and  distinct  existence  as  it  appears  to  have  when  we  are 
conscious  of  the  difference  between  the  ego  and  the  non-ego, 
but  it,  like  all  phenomena,  is  a  manifestation  of  the  Nou- 
menon  (Shinnyo)  concerning  whose  real  nature  no  definite 
assertion  can  be  made.  That  is,  Mahayana  holds  that 
there  is  a  noumenal  world  and  that  the  noumenal  is  present 
in  the  phenomenal  world,  but  the  phenomenal  world  does 
not  reveal  to  the  unenlightened  mind  the  real  nature  of  the 
noumenal  world.  This  assertion,  as  we  said  above,  mani- 
festly cannot  be  made  by  man  as  he  is,  but  must  be  accepted 
on  faith  in  the  authority  of  the  Buddha,  or  Buddhas,  who 
alone  know  what  is  the  nature  of  real  existence.  For  any 
but  the  Enlightened  the  nature  of  real  existence  is  incom- 
prehensible. 

"The  essence  of  all  things  is  incomprehensible.  To  at- 
tempt to  realize  their  essence  is  as  vain  as  to  make  real 
one's  dreams  which  come  to  nothing  the  moment  one  awakes." 

"In  trying  to  understand  the  various  worlds,  one  finds 
that  they  are  like  flames,  shadow-pictures,  sounds,  dreams, 
visions  or  specters." 

"Zengen  said  to  the  Buddha,  'Thou  hast  taught  that  all 
things  are  without  reality,  being  like  dreams,  sounds, 
shadows,  flames  or  visions,  and  that  their  real  nature  or 
individuality  is  neutral.  How  is  it,  then,  that  there  are  such 
differences  as  the  laws  of  good  and  evil,  sensuous  and  super- 
sensuous,  determined  and  free?'  To  this  the  Buddha  re- 
plied, *0  Zengen,  the  common  man  knows  not  that  his 
thoughts  are  like  dreams,  like  shadows,  like  visions  and 
specters.  That  is  why  he  clings  to  what  are  mere  shadows 
and  does  deeds  of  good  and  evil,  happiness  and  misfortune 
in  his  body,  words  and  will.  In  reality  there  are  no  such 
differences  even  though  it  may  seem  that  there  are.' " 

But  when  it  is  said  that  the  differences  which  the  common 
man  makes  have  no  real  existence,  it  is  not  meant  that 
existence  is  altogether  void.    Back  of  the  apparent  plurality 


BUDDHIST  WORLD  VIEWS  197 

of  the  phenomenal  world  is  the  all-inclusive  Oneness  of  the 
Real  World.  Back  of  change  and  the  temporal  is  the  change- 
less and  eternal.  This  is  spoken  of  as  the  Substance  of  the 
Universe  and  is  conceived  of  as  a  unity  which  includes  all 
dualities;  namely,  the  "Dharma  of  non-duality";  it  is  the 
Spiritual  True  Likeness  (Shin  Shinnyo). 

"Shin  Shinnyo  is  that  which  underlies  the  two  worlds  of 
matter  and  mind.  It  is  boundless  as  to  space  and  endless 
as  to  time.  It  is  constant  as  to  past,  present  and  future. 
Extending  into  the  Ten  Worlds,  it  is  unlimited,  and  the  whole 
universe  is  but  the  manifestation  of  it." 

"Shin  Shinnyo  is  the  body  of  law  which  underlies  the 
entire  universe.  This  is  the  so-called  Spiritual  Essence  which 
is  neither  born  nor  perishes.  The  apparent  differences  in 
the  world  are  but  the  product  of  impure  thought.  Outside 
the  mind  there  are  no  real  differences.  Therefore  the  real 
essence  of  the  universe  is  not  to  be  expressed  in  words,  nor 
can  it  be  reduced  to  any  fixed  formula.  It  is  incomprehen- 
sible and  ultimately  it  is  a  Oneness  in  which  there  is  neither 
change  nor  difference.  It  is  indestructible  and  because  it 
is  a  Oneness  it  is  called  Shinnyo." 

"Whatever  exists  is  evolved  from  the  One  Body  of  Shin- 
nyo's  Law-nature  (Shinnyo  Hojo  no  Ittai)  by  the  law  of 
cause  and  effect,  and  therefore  everything  is  substantially 
one  and  the  same." 

"Shin  Shinnyo  is  that  which  is  the  essence  of  all  things 
and  principles ;  it  is  the  ideal  changeless  and  imperishable. 
The  distinctions  and  differences  in  things  are  but  the  prod- 
uct of  our  illusory  ideas,  and  these  differences  do  not  exist 
apart  from  the  mind.  Therefore  the  laws  of  all  things  are 
originally  and  in  their  real  essence  identical,  changeless,  with- 
out real  differences  and  imperishable  when  all  explanations, 
nomenclatures  and  thought  are  subtracted  from  them.  And 
because  they  are  all  one  Mind  they  are  called  Shinnyo." 

This  third  view  of  what  constitutes  the  essence  of  reality 
—  and  as  we  have  said,  this  is  the  orthodox  view  of  the 
Mahayana  school  to  which  most  Japanese  sects  belong  — 
holds,  then,  in  short,  that  while  for  practical  purposes  in 


198  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

our  state  of  ignorance  we  may  say  that  there  are  real  dif- 
ferences (Sabetsu)  in  things,  in  reality  Existence  is  a  oneness 
or  a  sameness  (Byodd)  concerning  which  no  further  asser- 
tion can  be  made.  Even  the  statement  that  the  universe  is 
Being  would  be  too  specific  and  must  be  balanced  by  the 
conception  of  Non-Being,  if  one  would  keep  in  the  Middle 
Path.  "  We  cannot  say,"  writes  a  modern  Buddhist,  "  that 
things  either  are  or  that  they  are  not.  If  we  ask  whether 
things  are  fixed  in  their  Being  or  fixed  in  their  Non-Being, 
we  can  give  no  positive  answer  to  either  question.  We 
can  only  say  that  things  are,  or  that  they  are  not,  or  that 
they  are  midway  between  Being  and  Non-Being."  If  this 
seems  strange  to  the  reader,  let  him  remember  that  our  own 
Hegel  has  tried  to  show  that  the  essence  of  Being  is  Being 
plus  Non-Being,  whatever  that  may  mean. 

But  the  Mahayana  Buddhist,  too,  recognizes  that,  after  all, 
we  live  in  a  world  where  differences  seem  very  real  and 
where  we  must  treat  them  as  real  in  spite  of  their  supposedly 
metaphysical  identity.  And  so  if  we  would  make  progress 
in  our  understanding,  we  must  leave  this  problem  of  the 
ulitmate  nature  of  reality  and  this  high  plane  of  the  "  Dharma 
of  non-duality"  and  come  down  to  the  world  as  it  is,  or 
at  any  rate  as  it  appears  to  be.  We  shall,  however,  not 
leave  the  above  theories  of  knowledge  and  theories  of  the 
essence  of  reality  too  far  behind,  for  they  crop  out  in  almost 
every  problem  that  is  discussed.  In  fact,  we  must  remember 
that  all  exposition  and  explanation  belong  to  the  realm  of 
Relative  or  Accommodated  Truth  and  not  to  the  realm  of 
Absolute  Truth.  And  so  when  we  expound  certain  definite 
views  regarding  the  cosmos,  God,  man,  salvation  etc.,  we 
must  always  be  ready  to  add  at  the  end  that  these  are  views 
expressed  in  terms  of  Accommodated  Truth.  This  is  ex- 
ceedingly maddening  to  the  average  Western  mind,  for  just 
when  one  thinks  that  one  has  finally  reached  solid  ground 
as  to  what  Buddhism  really  teaches  on  this  or  that  point, 
one  must  be  prepared  to  have  the  foundation  knocked  from 
under  this  stately  mansion  of  knowledge  by  the  consciousness 
that  these  ideas  are  expressed,  but  in  the  concepts  of  Accom- 


THE  PLURALISTIC  WORLD  199 

modated  Truth  and  therefore  are  not  really  true.  And  we 
should  add  here  that  it  is  this  theory  of  truth  which  makes 
Buddhist  teachings  so  inconsistent  when  taken  as  a  whole, 
and  so  tolerant  of  views  which  may  be  the  direct  opposite. 
For  if  in  the  last  analysis  all  differences  are  really  a  sameness, 
then  it  would  be  folly  to  insist  very  much  on  any  view.  All 
contradictions  are  but  opposite  sides  of  the  same  thing  whose 
real  nature  transcends  the  power  of  finite  mind  to  compre- 
hend. Therefore,  as  we  said,  Buddhism  is  very  tolerant ;  at 
least  this  is  true  of  Buddhist  philosophers. 

D.    The  Pluralistic  World  of  Experience 

If  the  universe  is  Sameness  from  the  standpoint  of  Abso- 
lute Truth,  from  the  standpoint  of  Accommodated  Truth  it 
is  a  universe  of  Differences.  The  world  of  experience  is 
a  pluralistic  world  even  though  the  last  word  of  speculative 
thought  may  be  a  monism  of  one  sort  or  another.  Now 
this-  pluralistic  world  Buddhism  divides  in  many  ways,  and 
in  these  divisions  all  schools  agree  in  general.  That  is, 
the  distinctions  between  Hinayana,  Provisional  Mahayana 
and  True  Mahayana  do  not  have  much  meaning  here.  The 
differences  are  rather  sectarian  and  pertain  more  to  the 
religious  application  of  the  teachings  than  otherwise. 

1.  The  Two  Spheres.  —  First  of  all  Buddhism  divides  all 
existence  into  the  two  great  spheres  mentioned  above; 
namely,  the  phenomenal  sphere  and  the  noumenal  sphere. 
This  has  already  been  discussed,  and  we  mention  it  here 
simply  because  even  this  distinction  belongs  to  the  realm 
of  Accommodated  Truth  and  not  to  the  realm  of  Absolute 
Truth. 

2.  The  Three  Worlds.  —  The  second  great  division  which 
Buddhism  makes  is  what  is  called  in  Japanese,  Sanse,  Three 
Worlds,  i.e.  the  Past,  the  Present  and  the  Future.  In 
western  thought  we  are,  of  course,  familiar  with  this  divi- 
sion of  time,  but  in  Buddhist  thought  it  is  not  so  much  a  divi- 
sion of  time  as  a  division  of  the  Causal  Nexus  which  runs 
through  all  things.    The  Past  world  caused  the  Present 


200  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

world  and  the  Present  world  becomes  in  turn  the  cause  of 
the  Future  world.  There  is  really  nothing  in  the  Present 
which  was  not  in  the  Past,  and  there  will  be  nothing  in  the 
Future  which  is  not  in  the  Present,  so  that  the  Past  cause 
may  be  seen  in  the  Present  effect  and  the  Future  inferred 
from  the  Present  cause.  The  universe  is  really  a  closed 
system  and  it  repeats  its  perpetual  rounds  in  strict  con- 
formity to  the  law  of  cause  and  effect. 

3.  The  Timeless,  Boundless  Cosmos. — According  to  Bud- 
dhist cosmology  the  cosmos  had  no  real  beginning  and  has 
no  end  in  time.  It  has  always  existed  and  it  always  will 
exist.  It  passes,  however,  through  various  stages  as  time 
goes  on.  Four  stages  are  recognized;  namely,  (1)  Comple- 
tion, (2)  Inhabitation,  (3)  Destruction  and  (4)  Voidness. 
In  the  state  of  Completion  the  world  is  being  formed  from 
the  great  Void  and  prepared  for  living  beings.  In  the 
state  of  Inhabitation  it  is  filled  with  all  manner  of  living 
beings.  In  the  third  state,  the  state  of  Destruction,  the 
cosmos  is  disintegrating  and  preparing  to  enter  the  fourth 
state,  the  state  of  Voidness.  This  last  state  is,  however,  not 
an' absolute  void  nor  does  this  state  continue  forever,  for 
after  an  immeasurable  length  of  time  the  cosmos  will  again 
form  from  out  this  void  and  enter  once  more  upon  the  first 
of  the  above  mentioned  states,  and  so  a  new  cycle  begins. 
One  such  cycle  follows  upon  another  in  endless  succession. 
Each  stage  in  a  cycle  is  millions  of  years  in  length,  so  that  a 
single  cycle  is  immeasurably  long.  And  when  it  is  said 
that  such  cycles  follow  each  other  in  endless  succession  it 
becomes  clear  that  this  is  simply  an  attempt  to  express  in 
finite  terms  the  infinity  of  Time.  The  cause  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  cosmos  in  the  third  state  is  said  to  be  a  destruc- 
tive fire  which  breaks  out  and  consumes  everything  with  a 
fervent  heat.  The  cause  which  reforms  the  cosmos  in  the 
first  state  is  a  cool  wind  which  arises  spontaneously  and  blows 
across  the  hot  waste.  Lest  the  reader  take  this  too  liter- 
ally let  him  be  reminded  that  this  Wind  is  really  the  "  Wind 
of  Ignorance"  which  stirs  up  the  "waves  of  mentation" 
on  the  "Ocean  of  Eternal  Tranquillity."    That  is,  the  origin 


THE  PLURALISTIC  WORLD  201 

of  the  cosmos  is  really  due  to  ignorance  which  spontane- 
ously springs  up  in  the  Absolute  and  causes  it  to  individual- 
ize and  objectify  itself.  When  this  ignorance  has  been  de- 
stroyed or  exhausted  the  cosmos  disappears  again  in  the 
great  void  of  Perfect  Tranquillity, 

The  universe  is  not  only  timeless  but  also  boundless  as 
to  space.  The  cosmos  spoken  of  above  is  the  cosmos  known 
to  man.  But  this  is  only  one  among  numberless  worlds. 
Thus  Buddhist  speculation  says  that  "a  thousand  such 
worlds  make  a  'group  of  Lesser  Thousand  Worlds,'  a  thou- 
sand such  groups  make  one  group  of  'Middle  Thousand 
Worlds,'  and  a  thousand  groups  of  'Middle  Thousand 
Worlds'  constitute  a  group  of  'Larger  Thousand  Worlds.' 
And  finally  one  such  group  makes  one  of  the  so-called  '  Three 
Thousand  Greatest  Thousand  Worlds.'"  All  these  worlds 
pass  through  the  four  stages  of  Completion,  Inhabitation, 
Destruction  and  Voidness  mentioned  above.  Thus  the 
universe  is  infinite  both  in  Time  and  Space.  Let  the  reader, 
however,  be  reminded  again  not  to  take  this  too  literally, 
for  space  and  time  are  regarded  as  but  the  laws  of  thought, 
and  everything  which  appears  in  space  and  time  as  but  the 
product  of  unenlightened  minds. 

4.  The  Three  Realim.  —  We  said  that  the  second  stage 
of  each  world  is  the  state  of  Inhabitation,  i.e.  the  state  when 
a  world  is  inhabited  by  living  beings.  These  living  beings 
Buddhism  divides  roughly  into  three  great  classes  or  realms ; 
namely,  the  so-called  Sankai,  Three  Realms^  (Sk.  Trai- 
lokya).  These  are  the  Realm  of  Desire  (Yokukai,  Sk,  Ka- 
madhatu),  the  Realm  of  Color  or  Pure  Form  (Shikikai,  Sk. 
Rupadhatu)  and  the  Realm  of  No-Color  or  Formlessness 
(Mushikikai,  Sk.  Arupadhatu) .  The  first  is  called  the  Realm 
of  Desire  because  all  beings  in  this  realm,  or  state,  are  sub- 
ject to  the  bondages  of  sexual  desires,  eating,  drinking, 
sleeping,  and  all  that  goes  with  physical  existence.  The 
Realm  of  Color,  or  Pure  Form,  is  a  kind  of  ethereal  w^orld. 
The  beings  in  this  realm  are  free  from  the  ordinary  lusts 
of  the  flesh,  but  their  state  is  still  a  sort  of  bodily  existence ; 
namely,  a  bodily  existence  of  a  refined  and  etherealized  sub- 


202  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

stance.  The  Realm  of  No-Color,  or  Formlessness,  is  the  realm 
of  pure  spirits.  The  beings  in  that  realm  have  neither 
matter  nor  form.  In  fact,  the  highest  beings  in  this  realm 
are  not  only  free  from  bodily  existence,  but  their  state  is 
even  more  refined  than  spirit  and  reaches  almost  the  vanish- 
ing point,  for  they  are  said  to  have  entered  the  heaven  of 
No-Thought  and  No-Non-Thought.  What  this  means  is 
that  such  beings  have  reached  the  borderland  of  the  phenom- 
enal world  where  it  recedes,  as  it  were,  into  the  noumenal 
world  and  so  eludes  our  grasp ;  for  as  we  have  repeatedly 
said,  our  knowledge  is  but  a  knowledge  of  the  phenomenal 
world  and  not  of  the  noumenal  world.  Our  knowledge 
can  therefore  reach  up  to  the  very  threshold  of  the  noumenal 
world  but  it  cannot  go  beyond. 

5.  The  Six  Ways. —  Another  division  of  phenomenal  exis- 
tence which  covers  the  same  range  of  beings  as  the  Three 
Realms  but  in  greater  detail  is  w^hat  is  known  as  the  Six 
Ways  (Rokudo,  Sk.  Gati).  The  Six  Ways  are  really  six 
great  classes  of  beings.  Within  these  great  divisions  there 
are  many  subdivisions  and  grades.  In  fact,  one  is  very  much 
reminded  of  the  Monadology  of  Leibniz  which  arranged  all 
beings  in  an  ascending  or  descending  scale,  so  that  no  two 
were  exactly  alike  —  all  being  of  the  same  essence  but  in 
different  degrees.  It  is  exceedingly  important  to  understand 
this  Buddhist  "scale  of  beings,"  for  it  is  but  another  way 
of  stating  the  two  great  doctrines  of  Indian  thought  which 
have  been  the  common  property  of  Hinduism  and  Bud- 
dhism ;  namely,  the  doctrine  of  Karma  and  its  corollary,  the 
doctrine  of  Transmigration.  Without  a  knowledge  of  this 
"scale  of  beings"  it  is  also  impossible  to  understand  the 
absence  in  Buddhism  of  a  clear  line  between  God  and  man 
on  the  one  hand,  and  between  man  and  other  creatures  on  the 
other  hand.  The  ease,  therefore,  with  which  men  are  exalted 
into  gods,  and  gods  made  to  appear  as  men  or  lower  beings, 
will  be  understood  only  after  one  gets  clearly  fixed  in  one's 
mind  at  least  the  main  outline  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Six 
Ways.  The  following  are  the  Six  Ways  given  in  an  ascend- 
ing scale : 


THE  PLURALISTIC  WORLD  203  1 

I 

I 

(1)   Hell  (Jigokii,  Sk.  Naraka  or  Noraya),  (2)   Hungry 
Spirits  (Gaki,  Sk.  Pretas),  (3)  Beasts  (Chikusho),  (4)  Fig^t^-j\a„'>^fr*%e^  \ 
ing  and  Bloodshed  (Shura  Sk.  Asiiras),  (5)  Man  (Ningen) 
and  (6)  Heavenly  Beings  (Tenjo,  Sk.  Devas). 

These  Six  Ways,  or  Realms  of  Beings,  are  localized  with 
reference  to  Mt.  Sumeru  (Jap.  Shumisen)  regarded  as  the 
center  of  every  world.     Hell  is  located  many  leagues  below  | 

this  central  mountain.  It  has  eight  great  subdivisions 
located  one  below  the  other  and  each  of  these  has  four 
gates  with  four  antechambers  at  each  gate,  thus  making 
really  a  total  of  one  hundred  thirty-six  hells.  These  are 
all  hot  hells,  but  there  are  also  eight  great  divisions  of  a 
cold  hell.^  The  picture  which  Buddhism  gives  of  the  lot 
of  the  beings  in  these  various  hells  surpasses  the  imagina- 
tion of  Western  readers  even  though  they  may  be  steeped 
in  Dante's  Inferno. 

The  Realm  of  Hungry  Spirits  has  two  great  divisions; 
one  being  located  under  Mt.  Sumeru  but  above  Hell,  and 
the  other  above  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  the  air  near  the 
base  of  the  mountain.  The  characteristics  of  beings  in 
this  realm  are  greed  and  passion  which  exist  in  various 
degrees. 

The  Realm  of  Beasts  has  also  two  main  divisions ;  one  be- 
ing in  the  "  great  sea  "  and  the  other  on  land  around  the  base 
of  Mt.  Sumeru.  Folly  and  passion  are  the  characteristics 
of  beings  in  this  realm  and  their  variety  is  as  great  as  the 
number  of  living  beings  in  the  waters  and  on  land,  with 
man  excluded. 

The  Realm  of  Fighting  and  Bloodshed  has  again  two 
main  divisions,  one  being  in  the  sea  and  the  other  on  land. 
Pride,  strife  and  cruelty  are  the  characteristics  of  beings  in 
this  realm.  Some  Japanese  Buddhists  omit  this  fourth  realm, 
for  it  is  not  quite  clear  just  what  is  really  meant  by  it.  The 
beings  in  it  seem  to  be  a  sort  of  hybrid  between  beasts  and 
man. 

When  we  come  to  the  fifth  way  or  realm;  namely,  the 
Realm  of  Man,  we  come  to  an  existence  w^hich  has  two 
sides  to  it.     On  the  one  hand  human  life  is  a  life  of  sorrow 


204  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

and  suffering,  and  on  the  other  hand  it  is  a  life  of  joy  and 
happiness.  As  compared  with  the  four  lower  realms  it  is 
highly  to  be  desired,  but  still  it  is  not  an  existence  in  which 
one  should  care  to  remain  forever.  Sorrow  and  suflFering 
outweigh  the  happy  side,  and  all  pleasures  in  this  life  are 
fleeting. 

The  last  and  highest  of  the  Six  Ways  is  the  Way  or  Realm 
of  Heavenly  Beings.  This  is  the  great  realm  into  which 
Buddhist  speculation  places  all  the  gods  and  superhuman 
beings  of  Brahmanism  and  other  religions,  i.e.  beings  that 
are  superior  to  man  but  which  have  not  entered  the  Bud- 
dhist Nirvana.  The  Realm  of  Heavenly  Beings  has  numerous 
divisions,  heaven  rising  above  heaven  in  endless  numbers. 
They  are  divided  into  three  great  groups,  the  first  group 
being  the  heavens  of  the  Realm  of  Desire,  the  second,  the 
heavens  of  the  Realm  of  Form,  and  the  third,  the  heavens 
of  the  Realm  of  Formlessness.  These  are  located  one  above 
the  other  and  separated  by  immense  distances.  The  lower 
heavens  of  the  Realm  of  Desire  are  located  on  the  upper 
slopes  and  top  of  INIt,  Sumeru,  while  the  upper  heavens  of 
this  lower  group  are  located  hundreds  of  thousands  of  leagues 
above  this  central  mountain,  whose  own  height  is  said  to 
be  84,000  yodjanas  above  the  surface  of  the  ocean  and 
whose  depth  extends  an  equal  distance  downwards.  As  the 
upper  groups  of  heavens  are  separated  by  immeasurable 
distances  from  this  lower  group,  it  follows  that  they  extend 
upward  into  infinite  space.  As  the  heights  of  these  numerous 
heavens  vary,  so  does  the  length  of  life  in  them  vary.  In 
the  lowest  of  the  heavens  of  the  Realm  of  Desire,  e.g.  life 
lasts  500  years,  but  twenty-four  hours  in  this  heaven  are 
equal  in  length  to  fifty  years  on  earth.  In  the  highest  of 
this  lower  group  life  lasts  16,000  years,  but  twenty-four 
hours  are  equal  to  1600  years  on  earth.  In  the  heavens 
of  the  Realm  of  Form  and  the  Realm  of  Formlessness 
life  can  only  be  measured  by  Kalpas,  and  a  Kalpa  may 
be  measured  in  years  by  adding  from  seventeen  to  ninety 
ciphers  to  the  figure  one.  The  following  outline  may  give 
the  reader  a  glimpse  of  this  immense  structure  of  oriental 


THE  PLURALISTIC  WORLD  205 

imagination.     We   give   both   the   Japanese  and   Sanskrit 
terms,  and,  where  possible,  the  meaning  in  English. 

Tenj5  (Devas),  Heavenly  Beings. 

1.  Roku  Yokuten  (6  Devalokas),  Six  Heavens  of  Desire. 

(1)  Shioten  (Tchatur  maharadjakayikas),  Heaven  of  Four 

Deva  Kings ;  namely,  the  four  kings  who  rule 
over  the  regions  on  the  four  sides  of  Mt.  Sumeru. 

(2)  Tori  ten  (Traiyastrimsas),  Heaven  of  thirty-three  cities 

or  beings,  probably,  the  heaven  of  the  ancient 
Vedic  gods. 

(3)  Yamaten  (Yama). 

(4)  Dosotsuten  (Tuchita),  The  heaven  in  which  all  Bo- 

dhisattvas  are  reborn  before  they  appear  as 
Buddhas  upon  earth.  Maitreya,  the  Buddha 
of  the  Future,  is  now  there  preaching  Buddhism 
to  the  inhabitants. 

(5)  Kerakuten  (Nirmanarati) ,  Heaven  of  Delight  in  Trans- 

formation. 

(6)  Takajisaiten  (Paranirmita  Vasavartin),  Heaven  where 

devas  remain  unchanged  while  others  change. 
This  is  the  highest  of  the  Six  Heavens  of  Desire 
and  the  abode  of  Mara,  the  Buddhist  tempter. 

2.  Shizen  (4  Dhyanas),  Four  Meditation  Regions. 

(1)  Shozenten  (First  Dhyana),  First  Meditation  Region. 

a.  Bonshuten  (Brahma  parichadya).  Assembly  of 
the  Brahmas. 

6.  Bonhoten  (Brahma  purohita),  Heaven  of  Brah- 
ma's Attendants. 

c.  Daibonten  (Mahabrahma),  Heaven  of  the  Great 
Brahma. 

(2)  Nizenten  (Second  Dhyana),  Second  Meditation  Re- 

gion. 

a.  Shokoten  (Parittabha),  Little  Light  Heaven. 

b.  Muryok5ten      (Apramabha),     Boundless      Light 

Heaven. 

c.  Gokukojoten   (Abhasvara),  Superior   Pure  Light 

Heaven. 

(3)  Sanzenten  (Third  Dhyana),  Third  Meditation  Region. 

a.  Shojoten  (Parittasubha),  Limited  Purity  Heaven. 

b.  Muryojoten  (Apramanasubha),  Boundless  Purity 

Heaven. 


206  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE    BUDDHISM 

c.    Henjoten  (Subhakritsna),  All  Purity  Heaven. 
(4)    Shizenten  (Fourth  Dhyana),  Fourth  Meditation  Re- 
gion. 

a.  Fukusho  (Punyaprasava),  Happy  Birth  Heaven. 

b.  Muunten  (Anabhraka),  Cloudless  Heaven. 

c.  Kokwaten  (Vrihatphala),  Vast  Merit  Heaven. 

d.  Munetsuten  (Asandjnisattva),  No  Heat  Heaven. 

e.  Musoten  (Avriha),  No  Thought  Heaven. 
/.    Mubonten  (Atapa),  No  Passion  Heaven. 

g.    Zenkenten  (Sudrisa),  Virtue  Seeing  Heaven. 
h.    Zengenten  (Sudarsana),  Virtue  Appearing  Heaven. 
i.    Shikikukyoten  (Akanichtha),  Final  Limit  of  Desire 
Heaven. 
3.    Shimushiki  (Arupadhatu),  Four  Formlessness  Regions. 

(1)  Kushoten,  Empty  Place  Heaven.     One  is  born  into 

this  when  body  is  regarded  as  void. 

(2)  Shikishoten,  Imaginary  Place  Heaven.     One  is  born 

into  this  heaven   when   both   body   and  mind 
are  regarded  as  void. 

(3)  Mushoten,  No  Place  Heaven.     One  is  born  into  this 

heaven  when  body,  mind  and  all  phenomenal 
existence  are  regarded  as  void. 

(4)  Hisohihisoshoten,  No  Thought  No  Non-thought  Place 

Heaven. 

The  reader  is  not  expected  to  master  all  the  details  in 
the  above  outlines  of  the  Six  Ways,  but  simply  to  get  a  general 
idea  of  the  conception  which  Buddhism  has  of  living  beings. 
All  these  beings,  from  the  lowest  hell  to  the  highest  heaven, 
are  bound  together  by  the  one  inexorable  law  of  Karma. 
Beings  pass  from  one  state  to  another,  either  up  or  down, 
according  to  the  law  of  merit  and  demerit.  If  merit  out- 
weighs demerit,  a  being  will  be  born  into  a  higher  state, 
and  if  demerit  is  the  greater,  the  birth  will  be  in  a  lower 
state.  No  state  is  a  permanent  condition.  Even  the  beings 
which  have  obtained  birth  into  the  highest  heaven  are  still 
in  the  clutches  of  the  law  of  Karma  and  Transmigration. 
Their  life  may  be  a  happy  one  and  it  may  last  for  thousands 
of  years,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time,  unless  they  heap  up 
further  merit,  they  are  doomed  to  sink  again  in  the  "  scale 
of  beings."    Yea,  the  very  bliss  of  the  highest  heaven  makes 


THE   PLURALISTIC  WORLD  207 

their  lot  all  the  worse  when  they  must  leave  it.  Snch  a 
being  is  said  to  suffer  sixteen  times  more  than  beings  in 
the  lowest  of  hells,  "for  only  a  King  can  mourn  the  loss 
of  a  kingdom."  "  If  man  does  not  cut  the  coils  of  evil  deeds, 
he  is  doomed  eternally  to  drift  about  in  this  ocean  of  life 
and  death.  And  even  though  he  has  obtained  birth  into  a 
world  where  life  lasts  eighty  thousand  years  {i.e.  in  the 
higher  heavens  mentioned  above),  when  this  happiness  ends 
he  is  doomed  to  fall  into  the  way  of  the  Three  Evils."  The 
beings  in  the  Six  Ways,  then,  are  one  and  all  still  bound 
to  the  Wheel  of  Life  and  compelled  to  wander  about  in  the 
"dread  cycle  of  existence." 

6.  The  Four  Holies.  —  Now  Buddhism  offers  a  salvation 
from  this  "dread  cycle  of  existence"  by  opening  unto  all 
beings  a  way  of  escape.  This  way  is  the  way  of  the  Four 
Holies  (Shisei).  These  are  the  four  great  stages  of  enlighten- 
ment, beginning  with  those  who  hear  the  law  of  Buddha  and 
ending  with  those  who  have  fully  attained  Perfect  Enlighten- 
ment, or  Buddhahood.  These  four  stages  are  the  following : 
(1)  Hearers  (Jap.  Shomon,  Sk.  Sravaka),  (2)  Enlightened  One 
(Jap.  Enkaku,  Sk.  Pratyeka  Buddha),  (3)  Bodhisattva  (Jap. 
Bosatsu,  Sk.  Bodhisattva),  (4)  Buddha  (Jap.  Butsu,  Sk. 
Buddha).  There  are  several  degrees  in  each  of  these  four 
stages  of  holiness,  as  may  be  seen  at  a  glance  from  the  follow- 
ing outline : 


208 


STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 


I.  Shomon 
(Sravaka) 


2.  Enkaku 
(Pratyeka  ■ 
Buddha) 


Four 
Holies    • 
(Shisei) 


3.  Bosatsu 
(Bodhi- 

sattva) 


The  Bodhi- 
sattva 
makes  four 
great  vows 
and  prac- 
tices the  six 
virtues 
(Paramitas) 


4.  Butsu 
(Buddha) 


a.  Sudako  (Srotapanna),  a  beginner  in  the 
way  of  Enlightenment. 

6.  Sudagon  (Skridagamin),  one  who  re- 
turns but  once  to  the  Three  Worlds. 

c.  Anagon  (Anagamin),  no  return  to  the 
Three  Worlds. 

d.  Arakan,  or  Rakan  (Arhat),  a  true  saint, 
free  from  evil  and  one  who  has  attained 
the  first  stage  of  Buddhahood. 

One  who  has  broken  the  twelve  links  in  the 

Karma  Chain. 
The  state  is  also  called  Dokugaku,  Self 
enlightenment.  This  enlightenment  is  still 
shallow  and  this  kind  of  Buddha,  like  the 
Arhat,  seeks  salvation  only  for  himself. 
a.  To  save  all  beings. 
h.   To  destroy  all  passions. 

c.  To  know  and  teach 
others  all  laws. 

d.  To  lead  others  to  under- 
stand all  Buddha's  ways. 

a.  Almsgiving  and  teach- 
ing  the   ignorant. 

6.  Keeping  the  Command- 
ments. 

c.  Patience  and  Long-suf- 
fering. 

d.  Diligence  (in  fulfilling 
the  vows). 

e.  Meditation. 
/.    Wisdom    (for    self    and 

others). 

Ojin  Butsu  (Nirmanakaya),  Buddha  in 
human  form  like  the  historic  Buddha 
S'akj'amuui. 

Hoshin  Butsu  (Sambhogakaya),  Buddha 
as  an  ideal  person  or  the  personification 
of  virtue  and  wisdom  such  as  the  Buddha 
Amitabha. 

Hoshin  Butsu  (Dharmakaya),  Buddha 
as  the  Absolute  or  the  Noumenon  that 
underlies  all  phenomenal  existence. 


To  appreciate  the  respective  values  of  these  different 
stages  of  hoUness  the  following  section  from  the  Sutra  of  the 
Forty-two  Sections  should  be  read  : 

"The  Buddha  said,  'It  is  better  to  feed  one  good  man 
than  to  feed  one  hundred  bad  men.  It  is  better  to  feed  one 
who  observes  the  Five  Precepts  of  Buddha  than  to  feed  one 


THE  PLURALISTIC  WORLD 


209 


thousand  good  men.  It  is  better  to  feed  one  Srotapanna 
than  to  feed  ten  thousand  of  those  who  observe  the  Five 
Precepts  of  Buddha.  It  is  better  to  feed  one  Skridagamin 
than  to  feed  one  milHon  Srotapanna.  It  is  better  to  feed 
one  Anagamin  than  to  feed  ten  millions  of  Skridagamin. 
It  is  better  to  feed  one  Arhat  than  to  feed  one  hundred 
millions  of  Anagamins.  It  is  better  to  feed  one  Pratyeka 
Buddha  than  to  feed  one  billion  of  Arhats.  It  is  better 
to  feed  one  of  the  Buddhas,  either  of  the  present,  or  of 
the  past,  or  of  the  future,  than  to  feed  ten  billions  of  Pratyeka 
Buddhas.  It  is  better  to  feed  one  who  is  above  knowledge, 
one  sidedness,  discipline  and  enlightenment  than  to  feed  one 
hundred  billions  of  Buddhas  of  the  past,  present,  or  future.'  '* 
7.  The  Ten  Worlds,  —  The  Four  Holies  and  the  Six  Ways 
are  sometimes  placed  together  in  one  great  scale  of  beings 
known  as  the  Ten  Worlds  (Jukai).  This  gives  us  the  most 
comprehensive  classification,  as  it  includes  all  beings  both 
within  the  Three  Realms  and  above  the  Three  Realms. 
The  following  diagram  illustrates  the  matter  at  a  glance : 


The  Ten  Worlds 


1.  HeU. 

2.  Hungry  Spirits. 

3.  Beasts. 

4.  Fighting       and 

Bloodshed. 

5.  Man. 

6.  Heavenly  Beings. 

7.  Sravaka. 

8.  Pratyeka  Buddha. 

9.  Bodhisattva. 
10.  Buddha. 


The    Six    Ways,    or    the 

Three  Realms. 
The  World  of  Ignorance. 


The  Four  Holies,  or  Above 
the  Three  Realms. 

The  World  of  Enlight- 
enment. 


As  we  said  above,  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  reader  master 
all  the  details  of  these  various  ways  in  which  Buddhists 
divide  the  phenomenal  world,  but  it  is  exceedingly  worth 
while  to  keep  these  things  before  one  in  a  general  way  and 
to  remember  that  all  these  grades  of  beings,  from  the  lowest 
hell  to  the  highest  heaven,  yea  to  the  Buddhas  who  are  above 
the  highest  heaven,  are  all  bound  together  by  the  law  of 
Karma  into  a  sort  of  monistic  whole.  This  should  be  re- 
membered whether  one  discusses  the  Buddhist  God-idea,  the 


210  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

nature  of  man,  the  way  of  salvation,  the  future  life,  or  any 
other  cardinal  doctrine.  It  affects  the  way  of  approach  to 
all  of  these  and  explains  why  the  clear  lines  we  draw  in 
Western  thought  between  God  and  man,  truth  and  error, 
right  and  wrong,  etc.  do  not  usually  obtain  in  Buddhism. 
And  especially  should  the  reader  remember  that  this  whole 
scheme  of  graded  beings  is  but  a  presentation  of  things  as 
they  appear  from  the  standpoint  of  Accommodated  Truth, 
and  not  as  they  really  are  when  seen  from  the  high  plane 
of  Absolute  Truth;  for  from  this  standpoint  these  differ- 
ences have  no  real  meaning.  They  are  but  ripples  caused 
by  the  Wind  of  Ignorance  on  the  Ocean  of  Sameness.  Even 
the  beings  of  the  lowest  hell  are  substantially  one  with 
the  beings  of  the  highest  realms,  for  "  in  every  passion  there 
is  a  Buddha,"  and  "  in  every  living  being  dwells  the  essence 
of  Buddha." 

We  have  now  reached  the  point  where  we  can  take  up 
more  specifically  what  from  a  Western  standpoint  would 
be  regarded  as  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  religion.  The  first 
of  these  is  naturally  the  doctrine  of  God. 

E.    The  God-idea  of  Japanese  Buddhism 

'  What  is  really  the  conception  of  the  Divine  held  by 
Japanese  Buddhists  ?    The  answer  is  a  very  complex  one. 

In  our  first  chapter  we  discussed  briefly  what  seems  to 
have  been  S'akj^amuni's  teaching  on  this  point.  We  saw  that 
he  regarded  the  speculations  about  the  Brahman  as  an  idle 
waste  of  time,  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  numerous  gods  of 
the  common  people  he  robbed  of  their  glory  either  by  ig- 
noring them  altogether,  or  by  assigning  them  a  much  lower 
place  than  that  of  one  who  like  himself  had  attained  en- 
lightenment; for  the  gods  too,  according  to  S'akyamuni, 
were  still  subject  to  the  laws  of  birth  and  death  and  the 
dread  cycle  of  existence  which  is  incurably  evil.  In  our 
second  chapter  we  saw  how  the  idea  of  a  Supreme  Being 
reasserted  itself  in  Buddhism  as  it  spread  through  north- 
west India  and  then  into  China,  and  that  S'akyamuni  him- 


THE  GOD-IDEA  211 

self  was  exalted  into  a  being  like  God,  or  at  least  was  re- 
garded as  a  special  manifestation  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
We  saw  how  Buddhism  in  its  onward  march  gathered  up  into 
itself  practically  everything  with  which  it  came  in  contact, 
so  that  by  the  time  it  reached  Japan  it  had  assumed  a  com- 
plexity rather  difficult  to  analyze.  As  was  the  case  with 
other  cardinal  doctrines,  so  its  God-idea  was  no  longer 
one  God-idea  but  many,  ranging  all  the  way  from  a  low 
animistic  nature  cult  through  ancestor  worship  and  various 
stages  of  polytheism  to  a  philosophical  monism  which  in 
some  branches  was  atheistic,  in  others  semi-theistic,  and  in 
still  others  pantheistic.  And  what  Buddhism  was  in  China 
before  it  reached  Japan,  it  has  been  and  is  to-day  in  Japan, 
only  that  here  it  has  added  to  itself  the  legends  and  myths 
of  the  primitive  Shinto  which  saw  in  every  phenomenon  a 
special  god  and  regarded  particularly  the  Imperial  family  as 
the  descendants  of  the  gods  and  as  worthy  to  become  gods 
after  death.  Thus  it  is  clear  that  if  one  would  set  forth  the 
conception  which  Japanese  Buddhists  have  of  the  Divine, 
no  clear-cut  presentation  need  be  expected,  and  it  is  no 
wonder  that  there  is  such  a  divergence  of  opinion  among 
writers  on  Buddhism  as  to  just  what  is  the  Buddhist  con- 
ception of  God. 

But  while  it  is  difficult  to  make  a  clear-cut  presentation 
of  the  subject  we  shall  try  to  analyze  in  a  measure  at  least 
this  maze  of  contradictory  ideas.  To  begin  with,  we  must 
again  refer  the  reader  to  the  scheme  of  gradation  of  beings 
which  we  have  given  above.  There  are  ten  great  realms 
of  living  beings  in  the  Buddhist  universe,  and  man  finds 
himself  near  the  middle  of  this  scale.  That  is,  he  is  superior 
to  some  and  inferior  to  others.  Those  above  man,  though 
differing  from  one  another  in  excellence,  may  be  regarded 
as  gods.  And  as  all  beings  are  bound  together  by  a  univer- 
sal causal  nexus,  so  that  the  higher  may  return  to  the 
lower  and  the  lower  to  the  higher  stages  of  existence,  the 
boundary  between  the  human  and  the  divine  or  any  other 
stage  naturally  disappears.  Thus  men  can  become  gods 
and  gods  become  men.     And  still  further  must  it  be  remem- 


212  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

bered  that  all  these  graded  realms  of  beings  are  superior  or 
inferior  only  as  seen  from  the  standpoint  of  unenlightened 
man,  but  that  from  the  standpoint  of  true  enlightenment 
these  differences  have  no  meaning;  for  all  are  mere  mani- 
festations of  what  is  essentially  one  and  the  same  reality. 
This  one  reality  is  the  Absolute  of  Buddhist  philosophy. 
Western  writers  usually  speak  of  the  Buddhist  conception 
of  the  Absolute  as  being  a  pantheistic  conception  and  say 
that  Buddhism  as  a  religion  is  pantheism.  Perhaps  Pan- 
theism is  the  best  word  we  can  use  in  English  to  designate 
the  Buddhist  God-idea,  but  only  so  because  it  is  a  very  vague 
term  open  to  an  almost  indefinite  number  of  shades  of  mean- 
ing, i  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Buddhist  philosophers  do  not  use 
the  term.  The  Ultimate  of  Buddhist  thought  is  not  All- 
God,  but  a  Oneness  which  transcends  the  categories  of  all 
being  as  known  to  man.  The  Absolute  is  really  the  Great 
Unknowable,  and  the  agnostic  attitude  is  the  proper  one 
for  all  true  Buddhist  philosophers. 

But  while  the  agnostic  attitude  is  regarded  as  the  most 
profound  and  should  issue  logically  in  silence  on  this  great 
problem,  few  Buddhists  are  consistent  on  this  point  and, 
like  Herbert  Spencer,  have  a  good  deal  to  say  about  the  Great 
Unknowable.  What  they  have  to  say  differs  rather  widely, 
for  with  some  the  conception  of  the  Divine  is  practically 
atheism,  i.e.  the  God-idea  ends  in  zero,  with  others  the 
conception  is  not  far  removed  from  theism,  and  with  still 
others,  who  represent  the  majority,  the  conception  fluc- 
tuates between  atheism  and  theism,  so  that  it  may  be  des- 
ignated by  the  vague  term  pantheism.  The  conception 
held  by  the  general  run  of  believers  is  incurably  polytheis- 
tic, for  polytheism  is  not,  as  some  suppose,  inconsistent 
with  pantheism,  but  its  necessary  complement.  That  is, 
polytheism  and  pantheism  are  but  two  sides  of  one  and  the 
same  shield ;  the  former  being  the  pluralistic  view  of  every- 
day experience,  and  the  latter  the  monistic  view  of  the  specu- 
lative thinker. 

If  then  we  speak  of  the  God-idea  as  held  by  Japanese 
Buddhists,  it  depends  largely  upon  what  Buddhists  we  are 


THE  GOD-IDEA  213 

talking  about.  The  uneducated  classes  in  all  sects  are  poly- 
theists,  and  the  philosophers  are  usually  monists  of  one  sort 
or  another,  varying,  as  we  have  just  said,  all  the  way  from 
atheism  to  a  semi-theism.  We  shall  take  up  the  philosophic 
views  first  and  then  the  popular  ideas. 

While  for  the  sake  of  convenience  we  shall  discuss  the 
God-idea  of  the  thinking  classes  under  the  three  heads 
j  of  Atheism,  Theism  and  Pantheism,  we  do  not  wish  to  give 
the  impression  that  these  are  clear  divisions,  or  that  they 
are  held  so  in  actual  practice.  There  are  two  reasons  why 
these  divisions  cannot  be  clear-cut.  The  first  reason  is 
that  all  three  have  in  the  religious  life  of  the  average  ad- 
herent an  undergrowth  of  polytheistic  nature  worship  with 
a  strong  admixture  of  ancestor  worship  which  ever  grows 
up  and  chokes  any  clear  distinctions  which  the  philosophers 
might  seek  to  make.  The  second  reason  is  that  Atheism, 
Pantheism  and  Theism,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
cannot  be  marked  off  clearly  one  from  the  other.  For 
example,  if  in  Theism  one  lays  great  stress  on  w^hat  in  Western 
thought  is  called  the  Immanence  of  God,  one  is  not  far 
removed  from  Pantheism,  and  the  lower  end  of  Pantheism 
which  denies  consciousness  to  the  One-All  is  not  far  from 
Atheism.  It  is  best  then  to  think  of  the  Buddhist  God-idea 
as  a  tree  whose  stem  is  pantheistic,  with  atheistic  branches 
on  its  shady  side  and  semi-theistic  branches  on  the  sunny 
side.  Or  to  use  the  Hegelian  mode  of  thought.  Atheism 
might  be  regarded  as  the  thesis  of  original  Buddhism  and  the 
Buddhism  of  those  Japanese  and  Chinese  sects  which  have 
kept  nearest  to  the  teachings  of  the  founder.  Theism  is 
the  antithesis  posited  by  the  worshippers  of  Amida,  and 
Pantheism  is  the  synthesis  of  the  two,  and  stands  for  Bud- 
dhism as  a  whole;  for  not  only  the  sects  which  stand 
avowedly  for  the  pantheistic  conception,  but  even  the 
atheistic  and  semi-theistic  sects  would  not  object  to  being 
classed  as  pantheists.  It  is  the  glory  of  Buddhism,  and 
always  has  been,  that  it  is  comprehensive  in  its  thought, 
and  what  can  be  more  comprehensive  than  the  vague  Pan- 
theism which  allows  both  Atheism  and  Theism  as  equally 


214  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

true;    or  as  the  Buddhist  would  say,  two  opposite  sides 
of  the  same  shield  ? 

1.  Atheistic  Buddhism.  —  It  may  seem  a  contradiction  in 
terms  to  speak  of  an  atheistic  God-idea,  but  the  student  of 
Buddhism  should  not  be  too  sensitive  about  using  contra- 
dictory terms  if  he  would  advance  in  his  understanding 
of  its  mysteries.  Even  an  atheistic  Buddhist  will  call  his 
philosophy  of  life  a  religion,  though  according  to  our  Western 
mode  of  thought  a  religion  without  a  god  would  hardly  be 
regarded  as  religion.  It  can  at  least  be  a  religion  of  hu- 
manity as  we  Westerners  have  been  taught  by  Comte  and 
his  followers ;  and  in  reality  atheistic  Buddhism  is  far  more 
than  this,  for  while  the  God-idea  does  seem  to  end  almost 
in  zero,  the  Buddhist  of  this  type  gives  at  least  a  passive 
worship  to  the  mystery  of  the  unknowable  Absolute. 
^  Atheistic  Buddhism  finds  its  best  representative  among 
Japanese  Buddhists  in  the  three  branches  of  the  Zen  Sect ;  r 
namely,  the  Rinzai,  Soto  and  Obaku  sects.  It  is  the  boast 
of  the  Zen  Sect  that  it  is  nearest  to  the  teachings  of  the 
founder  of  Buddhism.  It  often  calls  itself  the  Buddha 
Heart  Sect.  The  student  of  primitive  Buddhism  must  admit 
that  the  Zen,  both  in  theory  and  in  practice,  is  far  nearer 
the  religion  of  the  founder  than  are  the  other  Chinese  and 
Japanese  sects.  As  we  said  in  our  first  chapter,  Gautama 
may  not  have  been  an  out-and-out  atheist  but  he  certainly 
had  very  little  to  say  about  God.  If  he  did  nOt  deny  the 
existence  of  the  gods  of  the  common  people,  he  robbed  them 
of  the  glory  they  once  had.  And  so  these  true  modern 
followers  of  Gautama  may  not  deny  the  existence  of  beings 
higher  than  ordinary  man  —  beings  which  the  ignorant  may 
fear  and  worship  as  gods  —  but  such  beings  would  not 
be  regarded  as  gods  or  as  God,  worthy  to  be  worshipped. 
And  just  as  Gautama  held  that  through  self-discipline  man 
can  attain  enlightenment  and  Buddhahood  which  is  higher 
than  all  the  gods,  so  the  Zen  philosopher  of  to-day  holds 
that  man  can,  fin  his  own  strength  through  self-discipline, 
attain  unto  the  highest  condition  of  existence.  If  the  reader 
will  again  consult  the  chart  of  the  Ten  Worlds  given  above, 


THE   GOD-IDEA  215 

he  will  see  that  above  man  is  the  realm  of  heavenly  beings 
with  grades  upon  grades.  The  Zen  philosopher  may  not 
deny  the  existence  of  these  beings,  but  they  are  not  gods 
to  him.  Above  the  realm  of  these  heavenly  beings  are  the 
Four  Holies,  each  of  which  represents  higher  and  higher 
stages  of  enlightenment  and  all  of  them  are  far  above  the 
realms  of  heavenly  beings,  which  latter  still  belong  to  the 
realm  of  individual  existence  with  all  its  limitations.  And 
furthermore,  all  of  these  grades  of  beings  with  their  dif- 
ferences are  in  the  last  analysis  but  the  product  of  impure 
thought  and  so  have  no  real  existence  outside  the  mind 
of  the  thinker.  He  who  has  entered  the  highest  meditation 
of  Zen  thought,  "  the  white  silence  of  truth,"  will  see  that 
these  differences  do  not  exist  and  that  all  individuality  is 
swallowed  up  in  the  ocean  of  the  Eternal. 

But  what  about  the  Four  Holies  and  especially  the  highest 
of  these,  the  Buddha  state  ?  If  the  Zen  philosopher  ignores 
or  denies  the  existence  of  God  or  the  gods,  is  not  Buddhahood 
itself,  which  man  may  attain,  the  God  of  Zen  teaching  ?  If 
the  Zen  philosopher  believes  in  a  god  at  all,  we  might  say 
it  is  Buddha.  But  then  the  question  arises  as  to  what 
is  meant  by  Buddha.  Is  Buddha  regarded  as  a  personal 
being,  and  does  he  exist  now  as  a  personal  being  ? 

The  historic  Buddha  Gautama  existed  as  an  individual 
human  being  (or  what  appears  so  from  the  standpoint  of 
Accommodated  Truth).  But  when  that  historic  being  at- 
tained enlightenment  and  entered  into  Nirvana  he  became 
free  from  the  bondages  of  individual  existence.  He  passed 
out  from  the  Three  Worlds  and  so  ceased  to  exist  in  the 
sense  that  one  can  predicate  anything  of  his  state  of  being. 
Or  it  may  be  said  that  he  entered  a  state  which  transcends 
all  the  categories  of  beings  known  to  man.  Therefore  if 
anything  is  asserted  about  him,  it  must  be  in  the  form  of 
negating  any  particularization,  and  the  wisest  attitude  is 
one  of  silence.  Buddha  is  certainly  not  a  personal  being, 
not  a  personal  God ;  nor  can  one  assert  ''anything  about 
him.  The  Zen  Sect  thus  consistently  lays  great  stress  on 
meditation  which  should  lead  to  silence,  not  only  of  words. 


216  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

but  also  of  thought  of  all  particulars.  The  true  Zen  student 
seeks  to  enter  a  Holy  Vacancy  in  which  no  thought  of  in- 
dividual being  appears.  Even  to  say  that  Zen  teaches 
atheism  in  regard  to  the  God-idea  is  not  quite  accurate, 
for  that  would  be  asserting  something  definite  inasmuch 
as  every  negation  is  really  an  affirmation. 

It  might  be  asked,  then,  w^hether  the  Zen  philosopher 
teaches  that  all  existence  is  God,  and  that  the  God-idea  is 
an  idea  which  includes  everything.  To  this  the  answer  is 
that  the  words  "all  existence"  represent  to  the  person 
who  uses  them  something  definite,  i.e.  a  summary  of  all 
individual  beings.  But  all  so-called  individual  beings  have 
merely  a  phenomenal  existence;  and  so  it  cannot  be  said 
that  the  Ultimate  of  Zen  philosophy  is  the  One-All,  for  the 
All  itself  does  not  exist  in  the  sense  in  which  the  mind  pred- 
icates existence  of  anything.  Thus  the  height  of  Zen  phi- 
losophy does  not  only  deny  the  existence  of  God  and  gods, 
but  it  refuses  to  assert  the  opposite,  or  to  make  a  synthesis 
of  the  two  and  assert  Pantheism.  The  consistent  Zen  phi- 
losopher passes  through  Atheism  and  Pantheism  into  absolute 
Agnosticism  which  ends  consistently  in  silence.  If  this 
silence  is  broken  at  all,  it  is  to  assert  merely  the  existence 
of  the  Great  Unknowable  towards  which  the  philosopher 
may  take  an  attitude  of  reverence  and  even  worship  it 
with  a  passive  spirit,  but  this  can  hardly  be  compared  with 
the  conscious  fellowship  which  the  Christian  has  in  his 
experience  of  God. 

Sometimes  it  is  claimed  that  the  Zen  believer  experiences 
that  mystical  communion  with  the  Divine  which  Christian 
mystics  claim  to  have,  and  this  may  be  so ;  but  when  this 
is  a  real  communion  of  the  soul  with  God  it  transcends 
what  Zen  theology  holds  to  be  true.  The  true  Communion 
in  Zen  teaching  is  the  communion  of  self  with  self,  for  there 
is  no  Divine  with  which  to  commune  except  within  the  heart 
of  him  who  communes.  That  is,  the  real  God  of  Zen  is 
man's  own  heart  —  the  heart  freed  from  the  distractions  of 
particular  thought.  This  God  may  be  called  the  Higher 
Self,  and  this  may  be  identified  with  the  Universal  Self 


THE  GOD-IDEA  217 

which  constitutes  the  core  of  all  existence ;  but  such  language 
is  really  too  definite  and  savors  too  much  of  philosophic 
theism  to  be  quite  true  to  orthodox  Zen  thought,  though 
some  moderns  writing  for  Western  eyes  are  inclined  some- 
times to  use  such  phraseology.  The  weight  of  Zen  thought 
is  against  the  conception  of  God  as  a  Personal  Spirit  tran- 
scending the  universe  though  immanent  in  it;  and  in  fact 
it  recognizes  "no  God  except  such  as  man  can  and  has 
become  by  the  attainment  of  Buddhahood  " ;  and  the 
Buddha  state,  as  we  have  said,  is  not  that  of  personality 
but  transcends  the  categories  of  all  beings. 

2.  Theistic  Buddhism.  —  Theistic  Buddhism  finds  its  best 
representative  among  Japanese  Buddhists  in  the  four  Amida 
sects ;  namely,  the  great  Jodo  and  Shin  sects  and  the  two 
small  Yudzu  Nembutsu  and  Ji  sects.  Let  us,  however, 
state  at  the  outset  that  strictly  speaking  we  cannot  call 
these  sects  theistic,  for  thev  make  some  allowances  for  other 
gods  or  Buddhas  beside  Amida,  and  in  the  last  analysis,  as 
we  shall  see,  they  really  deny  the  personality  of  God  as  the 
Absolute,  and,  like  all  Mahayana  sects,  hold  that  the  Abso- 
lute is  neither  personal  nor  impersonal  but  transcends 
human  knowledge. 

But  while  the  Amidaists  make  room  for  other  Buddhas 
and  gods,  on  the  whole  the  Buddha  Amida  occupies  such 
a  unique  place,  and  his  name  is  on  the  lips  of  his  followers 
so  much  that  we  speak  of  the  Amida  sects  as  theistic,  or 
at  least  semi-theistic  sects.  They  hold  that  to  worship  Amida 
is  sufficient,  for  he  embraces  all  others;  he  is,  as  it  were, 
the  pleroma  of  the  God-head.  Some  moderns,  influenced 
by  Christian  thought,  speak  of  Amida  as  the  Creator  and  the 
Father,  and  ascribe  to  him  practically  all  the  attributes 
which  a  Christian  would  ascribe  unto  God.  And  even  in 
some  of  the  older  canonical  scriptures  we  find,  e.g.,  such 
sentences  as  this,  "Buddha  (Amida)  said,  'My  mercy  to- 
w^ards  all  ye  heaven  and  earth-born  creatures  is  deeper  than 
the  love  of  parents  towards  their  children.'"  And  in  the 
famous  Lotus  scripture  we  read,  "Now  are  the  Three  Worlds 
mine  and  all  living  beings  in  the  same  are  indeed  my  children. 


218  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

But  great  and  many  are  their  afflictions  and  it  is  I  alone 
that  can  save  them."  The  Nirvana  sutra  speaks  in  much 
the  same  strain  when  it  says,  "  If  a  man  have  seven  children 
and  one  of  these  be  ill,  his  love  though  equal  towards  all, 
will  go  out  in  a  special  way  to  this  one.  Thus  it  is  with 
the  love  of  the  Nydrai ;  though  it  is  equal  towards  all  beings, 
it  hovers  in  a  special  manner  over  those  who  are  in  sin." 
These  may  not  be  exactly  characteristic  thoughts  of  Amida 
Buddhism,  but  there  is  enough  of  this  element  in  it  to  make 
one  feel  that  it  is  indeed  an  approach  to  the  Christian 
conception  of  God.  This  will  come  more  clearly  to  light 
in  what  we  have  to  say  under  the  heading  of  Salvation,  and 
has  also  been  touched  upon  in  Chapter  III,  in  the  section 
on  the  Shin  Sect, 

In  our  second  chapter  we  spoke  of  the  beginnings  of  the 
Amitabha  (Amida)  faith.  We  saw  how  early  in  the  Chris- 
tian era  this  Buddha  was  known  to  Asvaghosha  and  Nagar- 
juna,  though  they  saw  him  only  "as  through  a  glass  darkly. " 
By  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century  Kumarajlva  seemed 
to  have  had  a  clearer  conception  of  him  as  the  supreme 
Personal  God.  But  the  name  which  is  great  among  the 
Amida  sects  is  that  of  Zendo  ^  who  lived  at  Sin-an-fu,  China, 
in  the  first  half  of  the  seventh  century.  In  635  a.d.  there 
arrived  in  the  same  city  the  Nestorian  mission  under  Olopun, 
which  must  have  been  rather  successful,  as  may  be  inferred 
from  the  celebrated  memorial  stone,  the  Nestorian  Monument, 
erected  in  781  a.d.  Is  it  stretching  the  imagination  to  sup- 
pose that  Zendo  may  have  been  influenced  by  the  Christian 
conception  of  God,  taught  by  these  Nestorian  missionaries? 
Not  that  the  Amida  doctrine  is  a  Christian  product  pure 
and  simple,  for  as  we  showed  in  Chapter  II,  it  may  have 
had  its  origin  in  purely  Indian  or  Persian  thought,  but 
it  does  seem  possible,  if  not  probable,  that  Nestorian  Chris- 
tianity in  China  strengthened  this  theistic  tendency  in  Bud- 
dhism of  singling  out  one  of  the  many  Buddhas  and  making 
him  the  one  and  only  Buddha.  All  the  more  does  this 
theory  seem  plausible  when  it  is  remembered  that  Zendo's 
teachings  were  regarded  by  other  Buddhists  as  heretical 


THE   GOD-IDEA  219 

doctrines.  Zendo's  teachings  were  taken  to  Japan,  where 
they  were  spread  by  Genshin  and  others  till  finally  they 
were  crystallized  in  the  formation  of  the  Amida  sects  men- 
tioned above.  These  have  perpetuated  and  developed  the 
Amida  doctrine  and  made  it  the  common  possession  of 
millions  of  Japanese  Buddhists;  namely,  four  sects  with  a 
total  of  more  than  28,000  temples,  or  about  three-sevenths 
of  the  whole. 

As  we  have  stated  above,  the  God-idea  in  Amida  Bud- 
dhism is  not  strictly  a  theistic  idea.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
Amidaist  makes  room  for  other  gods  or  Buddhas  beside 
Amida;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  Amida  philosopher 
really  denies  that  Amida  as  the  Absolute  is  personal.  First 
let  us  give  a  few  characteristic  quotations  from  Amida  theo- 
logians to  show  how  Amida  must  share  his  glory  with  others 
even  though  he  occupies  the  central  place.  "The  Gods, 
Buddhas  and  Bodhisattvas  are  numberless,"  says  a  recent 
theologian  of  the  Shin  Sect,  "  but  since  all  these  are  branch 
bodies  of  Amida  they  are  ultimately  contained  in  the  six 
characters  Na-mu  A-mi-da  Butsu  (I  worship  Thee  Thou 
Buddha  of  Boundless  Life  and  Light) .  For  this  reason  it  is 
sufficient  to  worship  the  one  Buddha  Amida  and  not  neces- 
sary to  worship  these  many  deities  separately.  Rennvo  says, 
'As  the  body  called  Namu  Amida  Butsu  includes  all  Gods, 
Buddhas  and  Bodhisattvas,  and  everything  good  and  every 
good  work,  what  is  the  use  of  worrying  your  mind  about 
various  works  and  things  good  ? ' "  But  to  make  sure  of  being 
comprehensive  the  writer  goes  on  to  say  that  the  good  Amida- 
ist "worships  the  deities  worshiped  by  others.  Every  God 
and  Buddha  worshiped  by  man  deserves  reverence  and  wor- 
ship. Speaking  from  the  standpoint  of  human  expediency, 
reverence  and  worship  must  not  be  neglected,  and  much  less 
should  the  believer  in  the  Xyorai  (i.  e.,  Amida)  neglect  this 
duty  of  niankind."  Speaking  on  this  same  point  another 
writer  says,  "  Not  even  in  dreams  should  one  make  light  of  any 
of  the  Buddhas  or  Bodhisattvas,  nor  should  one  despise  or 
reject  any  god  and  his  ways.  Though  through  the  ages  and 
the  various  stages  of  life  we  have  practiced  many  good  things 


220  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

by  the  boundless  help  of  all  the  Buddhas  and  Bodhisattvas, 
we  still  cannot  escape  mortality  through  our  own  efforts; 
but  having  been  urged  on  in  past  existences  by  all  the  Bud- 
dhas and  Bodhisattvas  we  have  now  come  under  the  benefit 
of  the  gracious  vow  of  Amida.  To  speak  evil  of  any  of  the 
Buddhas  or  Bodhisattvas,  not  knowing  their  benevolence, 
is  indeed  to  show  the  deepest  ingratitude." 

But  the  Amida  doctrine  breaks  down  as  a  theistic  con- 
ception also  for  the  reason  that  no  Buddhist  philosopher 
is  willing  to  think  of  the  Ultimate  in  terms  of  personality. 
i^Amida  is  spoken  of  as  a  personal  being,  but  the  term  Personal 
is  what  Buddhist  philosophers  of  all  schools  would  consider 
as  an  accommodation  of  language  when  used  of  the  Ultimate. " 
Even  in  the  West  it  is  a  common  objection  to  the  doctrine 
of  a  Personal  God  to  say  that  personality  implies  limitation, 
and  that  therefore  God  as  the  Absolute  cannot  be  personal. 
The  Buddhist  philosopher  raises  the  same  objection  and 
says  that  if  Amida  is  spoken  of  as  personal,  it  is  only  by 
way  of  accommodation  to  suit  the  doctrine  to  the  intelligence 
of  the  average  man  who  cannot  think  in  the  concepts  of 
philosophy.  The  Christian  theist  admits,  of  course,  that 
God  as  the  Absolute  necessarily  transcends  man's  compre- 
hension, but  he  holds  that  the  term  Personality  represents 
the  highest  conception  which  can  be  held  of  God,  so  that 
we  must  think  of  God  either  as  personal  or  as  sub-personal. 
Super-personal  concepts  are  beyond  us.  The  Buddhist  phi- 
losopher, regarding  the  idea  of  Personality  as  inadequate 
to  express  the  nature  of  God,  rejects  it  and  without  realizing 
it  lapses  into  the  sub-personal.  Instead  of  getting  an  idea 
more  adequate  than  the  conception  of  a  perfect  Personality 
he  either  gets  one  less  so,  or  the  concept  ends  in  the  zero 
of  Agnosticism,  or  in  the  confusion  of  Pantheism. 

But  to  understand  more  clearly  in  just  what  sense  these 
semi-theistic  sects  regard  Amida  as  a  personal  Buddha,  we 
must  take  up  at  this  point  what  is  known  as  the  doctrine 
of  the  Three  Bodies  of  Buddha  (Sanshin,  Sk.  Trikaya).  This 
doctrine  is  not  peculiar  to  the  Amida  Buddhists,  but  it 
throws  special  light  upon  the  God-idea  as  held  by  these 


THE  GOD-IDEA  .     221 

sects.  If  the  reader  will  again  consult  the  chart  of  the  Ten 
Worlds,  he  will  find  that  the  tenth,  or  the  highest,  is  the 
Buddha  World.  Now  Buddha  may  be  thought  of  in  three 
different  ways,  and  these  three  ways  are  the  so-called  Three 
Bodies  of  Buddha.  These  are:  (a)  The  Law  Body  of 
Buddha  (Sk.  Dharmakaya,  Jap.  Hosshin  Butsu),  (6)  The 
Compensation  Body  of  Buddha  (Sk.  Sambhogakaya,  Jap. 
Hoshin  Butsu),  and  (c)  The  Accommodated  Body  of  Buddha 
(Sk.  Nirmanakaya,  Jap.  Ojin  Butsu). 

The  first  of  these  three,  or  the  Law  Body  of  Buddha, 
means  Buddha  conceived  of  as  the  embodiment  of  Law.  It 
is  Buddha  regarded  as  the  essence  or  underlying  substance 
of  the  universe,  or  Buddha  as  the  Noumenon  back  of  the 
phenomenal  world.  Or  if  the  doctrine  be  stated  in  the 
language  of  modern  thought,  it  is  almost  synonymous  with 
the  Laws  of  Nature  conceived  of  as  metaphysical  entities 
and  constituting  a  monistic  whole  of  which  nature  is  a  visible 
and  pluralistic  expression. 

"Buddha  makes  Law  his  body." 

"The  realm  of  Law  is  the  Nyorai  and  this  is  the  true 
body  of  Buddha." 

"The  Law  Body  is  the  Law  without  birth  and  without 
death.  It  exists  neither  in  the  past  nor  in  the  future,  for 
it  transcends  time." 

The  Law  Body  of  Buddha,  then,  means  Buddha  con- 
ceived of  as  the  Absolute  and  the  underlying  substance 
or  essence  of  all  reality,  and  as  such  Buddha  is  not  a  personal 
being. 

The  second  way  in  which  Buddha  may  be  thought  of  is 
what  is  called  the  Compensation  Body  of  Buddha.  The 
meaning  of  this  conception  is  rather  difficult  to  state  clearly, 
but  in  it  lies  the  key  to  the  understanding  of  theistic  Bud- 
dhism and  the  explanation  of  what  is  meant  by  the  so-called 
personal  Buddha,  or  God,  Amida.  We  have  already  said 
above  that  according  to  Buddhist  philosophy  the  Absolute 
as  such  is  not  personal,  but  personality  is  something  which 
is  evolved  in  the  process  of  phenomenal  existence  and, 
like   all   phenomena,   personality   cannot   be   a   permanent 


222  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

state  of  being.  In  other  words,  there  was  a  time  when  the 
Buddha  Amida  did  not  exist  as  Amida,  and  Hkewise  it  is 
impossible  to  affirm  that  Amida  is  a  personal  being  now. 
He  is  spoken  of  as  personal  simply  because  this  is  a  practical 
conception  for  the  religious  needs  of  the  average  man. 

According  to  the  Buddhist  cosmogony  this  universe  has 
always  existed  very  much  as  it  exists  to-day;  at  least  the 
essence  of  the  universe  has  always  existed.  The  material 
of  the  universe  at  times  is  organized  and  at  times  is  in  a 
state  of  chaos,  so  that  chaos  and  order  follow  each  other 
at  great  intervals.  Thus  there  have  been  millions  of  uni- 
verses and  millions  of  states  of  chaos  or  voids,  and  in  the 
future  there  will  be  millions  of  universes  alternating  with 
millions  of  periods  of  chaos  and  void.  Where  in  Christian 
thought  we  say,  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,"  the  Buddhist  would  say,  "In  the  beginning 
was  the  substance  of  the  universe,  or  the  Law  Body  of 
Buddha."  In  the  course  of  time,  namely  ten  Kalpas  ago, 
there  was  a  Buddha  in  this  world  whose  name  was  the  Buddha 
of  Perfect  Freedom.  This  Buddha  had  a  disciple,  Hozo 
Bosatsu,  who,  casting  away  his  kingly  rank,  became  zealous 
in  religion.  He  took  pity  on  all  living  creatures  and  made 
a  vow  that  he  would  not  enter  the  bliss  of  Buddhahood 
until  he  had  prepared  a  way  of  salvation  for  all  beings. 
When  he  had  fulfilled  his  vow  he  attained  perfection  and 
became  the  Buddha  Amida.  That  is,  the  Buddha  Amida 
was  first  the  man  H6z5  Bosatsu.  The  latter,  as  a  resultant 
of  his  good  w^orks  and  the  fulfillment  of  his  vow  to  save  all 
living  beings,  obtained  the  Compensation  Body  and  became 
Amida.  Hozo  Bosatsu  as  a  man  was,  of  course,  a  personal 
being,  and  as  Amida  he  became  the  embodiment  of  mercy 
and  wisdom.  Amida  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  the  ideal 
personification  of  mercy  and  wisdom,  but  not  as  a  personal 
being  whose  characteristics  are  mercy  and  wisdom.  And 
he  is  not  the  Eternal  Personal  God,  but  only  man  become 
God.  In  the  words  of  Professor  T.  Inouye,  "Buddhism 
knows  of  no  God  except  such  a  one  as  man  can  and  has 
become  by  the  attainment  of  Buddhahood."    And  as  Amida 


THE   GOD-IDEA  223 

is  not  God  from  the  beginning,  but  only  one  who  has  attained 
Buddhahood,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Amida  philosophers 
deny  that  Amida  has  any  personal  existence  now.  He  is 
spoken  of  in  personal  terms  simply  by  way  of  accommodation 
of  language  and  not  because  he  is  personal. 

Amida,  then,  is  an  example  of  the  second  sense  in  which 
the  term  Buddha  is  used ;  namely,  the  Compensation  Body 
of  Buddha,  or  the  Body  of  Reward  for  good  works  achieved 
by  a  human  being  who  as  such  was  personal,  but  who  as 
Amida  is  not  a  real  personal  being  but  only  the  personification 
of  the  qualities  of  mercy  and  wisdom ;  for  when  Hozo 
Bosatsu  really  entered  into  Buddhahood  he,  as  an  individ- 
ual being,  was  merged  in  Buddha  as  the  Absolute,  which  is 
neither  personal  nor  impersonal. 

"Mercy  is  the  Nyorai  and  the  Nyorai  is  Mercy." 

The  third  way  in  which  Buddha  may  be  thought  of  is 
what  is  called  the  Accommodated  Body  of  Buddha.  This 
means  Buddha  regarded  as  a  historical  personage,  such, 
e.g.  as  S'akyamuni,  the  founder  of  Buddhism.  Such  Buddhas 
have  existed  by  the  thousands  and  millions  in  the  past 
cycles  of  time.  They  are  said  to  be  as  numerous  as  the 
grains  of  sand  on  the  sacred  Ganges.  "  Buddha's  body  {i.e. 
the  Law  Body  of  Buddha)  fills  the  ends  of  the  universe. 
It  is  revealed  to  all  living  beings  everywhere  and  always  in 
a  manner  suited  to  meet  the  needs  of  life  to  which  it  ap- 
pears "  {i.e.  the  Accommodated  Body  of  Buddha).  "The 
so-called  gods,"  says  Rennyo,  "are  but  the  transformations 
of  the  Buddhas  and  Bodhisattvas.  But  since  it  is  difficult 
for  men  in  this  world  to  approach  the  Buddhas  and  Bodhi- 
sattvas, deity  is  revealed  by  accommodation  as  gods  (i.e. 
the  popular  gods  of  Shinto  and  polytheistic  Buddhism). 
Thus  connection  with  mankind  is  made  and  man  is  brought 
finally  into  Buddhism." 

The  historical  being  whom  we  know  as  Gautama,  the 
founder  of  Buddhism,  was  therefore  not  the  manifestation 
of  the  Eternal  Personal  God,  but  simply  one  of  the  many 
forms  of  individual  existence,  and  he  no  more  truly  repre- 
sented the  nature  of  the  Ultimate  than  did  the  inanimate 


224  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE    BUDDHISM 

ground  of  India  on  which  he  walked.  For  neither  the 
personal  nor  the  impersonal  represents  the  essence  of  re- 
ality ;  both  are  but  different  expressions  of  one  and  the  same 
Whole. 
( From  the  above  it  must  be  clear,  then,  that  when  we 
speak  of  theistic  Buddhism  and  call  Amida  a  personal  God 
we  are  using  language  in  a  very  loose  sense.  While  the 
average  Amidaist  prays  to  Amida  and  speaks  of  him  in 
personal  terms,  the  Amida  philosopher  looks  upon  him  as 
merely  the  personification  of  a  principle,  or  the  idea  of  mercy 
and  wisdom.  In  Christian  language  we  say,  "God  is  love." 
If  by  this  we  meant  that  God  is  simply  the  personification 
of  love  and  not  that  love  is  the  expression  of  a  real  personal 
being,  we  would  have  a  parallel  case  with  the  Buddhist  idea 
of  Amida  as  the  embodiment  of  Mercy. 

Of  the  Three  Bodies  of  Buddha  mentioned  above  the 
Law  Body  is  the  most  ultimate,  and  in  so  far  as  the  Amida- 
ists  recognize  this  they  agree  with  all  the  Mahayana  sects 
that,  while  for  practical  purposes  they  may  make  room 
for  the  idea  of  a  personal  god  or  of  personal  gods,  the  ulti- 
mate as  such  cannot  be  said  to  be  personal.  It  is  the  Great 
Unknowable  concerning  which  no  affirmation  can  be  made. 

3.  Pantheistic  Buddhism.  — Pantheistic  Buddhism  finds  its 
best  representative  in  such  sects  as  the  Tendai  and  Shingon. 
It  asserts  the  reality  of  the  Divine  and  so  is  perhaps  a  little 
more  positive  in  its  God-idea  than  are  the  sects  which  we 
have  designated  as  atheistic.  In  the  second  place  pan- 
theistic sects  see  the  divine  in  ever\i:hing,  and  so  differ 
somewhat  from  the  so-called  theistic  sects  which  tend  to 
see  the  divine  primarily  in  the  Buddha  Amida.  The  pan- 
theistic God-idea  is  the  true  philosophic  basis  for  the  poly- 
theism of  the  common  believer  who  is  to  be  found  in  every 
sect.  Even  if  in  the  pantheistic  sects  there  are  some  gods 
who  seem  to  occupy  a  peculiar  preeminence,  and  the  Buddha 
Vairochana,  e.g.,  is  spoken  of  as  the  Supreme  Buddha,  the 
lesser  gods  and  Buddhas  will  be  considered  as  so  many 
manifestations  of  these  supreme  beings,  and  these  supreme 
beings  will  not  be  regarded  as  having  an  independent  personal 


THE  GOD-IDEA  225 

existence  but  only  as  existing  in  the  various  lesser  beings. 
And  not  only  are  the  gods  of  polytheistic  Buddhism  the 
manifestation  of  the  divine,  but  all  things  are  equally  its 
manifestation.  "In  every  living  being  dwells  the  essence 
of  Buddha." 

It  was  this  pantheistic  basis  of  Buddhism  which  enabled 
Kobo  Daishi  and  the  men  of  his  day  to  bring  into  the  already 
overstocked  Buddhist  pantheon  the  myriads  of  gods  of  the 
old  Shinto,  and  form  what  is  known  as  the  Two-Sided  Shinto. 
Every  popular  god  of  the  native  Shinto  could  easily  be  re- 
garded as  but  the  Japanese  form  of  Buddhist  deities  or  as 
new  manifestations  of  the  Divine,  which  is  infinite  in  its 
modes  of  existence  and  manifestations. 

Under  theistic  Buddhism  we  spoke  of  the  Three  Bodies 
of  Buddha,  and  said  that  the  first  of  these,  the  Law  Body 
of  Buddha,  is  regarded  by  all  Mahayana  sects  as  the  deepest 
reality  and  the  underlying  essence  of  all  things.  Both  the 
so-called  atheistic  and  theistic  branches  hold  this  view. 
Pantheistic  Buddhism,  too,  recognizes  this  threefold  distinc- 
tion and  makes  the  Law  Body  the  deepest  reality.  It  is 
simply  more  insistent  in  its  religious  application  of  the  idea 
upon  making  all  individual  beings,  especially  the  gods  of  the 
common  people,  the  real  manifestation  of  this  ultimate 
divine  reality.  Or  to  put  it  the  other  way  around,  the 
ultimate  reality  has  no  existence  except  as  it  exists  in  in- 
dividual beings.  All  things  are  not  merely  the  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Divine  but  they  are  the  Divine.  While  there 
may  be  forms  and  manifestations  of  the  Divine  unknown 
to  man,  the  phenomenal  world  with  its  gods  many  and  Bud- 
dhas  many  is  the  Divine.  The  Accommodated  Bodies  of 
Buddha  are  the  Law  Body  and  the  Law  Body  is  in  the  Ac- 
commodated Body.  The  phenomena  are  the  Noumenon, 
and  the  Noumenon  is  in  the  phenomena. 

If,  then,  there  appear  personal  beings  in  the  phenomenal 
world,  the  essence  of  reality  is  personal  to  that  extent,  but 
the  Infinite  is  personal  only  as  it  is  personal  in  the  finite,  or 
God  is  personal  only  in  so  far  as  he  is  personal  in  human 
beings  and  in  the  gods  of  popular  polytheism.     But  inas- 

Q 


226  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

much  as  the  personality  of  each  human  being  and  these 
popular  gods  is  regarded  as  but  a  temporary  state  brought 
about  by  certain  conditions  which  are  constantly  changing, 
God  is  not  permanently  personal  in  any  one  being.  The 
Divine  is  permanently  personal  in  finite  beings  only  in  so 
far  as  it  has  always  manifested  itself  in  them  and  probably 
always  will.  The  Great  Ocean  of  Reality  is  ever  breaking 
up  into  waves.  No  wave,  how^ever,  is  permanent,  but  soon 
sinks  back  again  into  the  waveless  depths.  In  the  same 
way  the  Divine  ever  wells  up  into  personal  beings,  but  none 
endure  as  such,  and  soon  sink  back  into  the  depth  of  Being 
which  is  neither  personal  nor  impersonal. 

The  God-idea,  then,  of  pantheistic  Buddhism  is  that  God 
is  personal  in  finite  personal  beings  and  impersonal  in  finite 
impersonal  beings ;  the  latter  are  as  truly  the  essence  of  the 
Divine  as  the  former.  To  the  question  as  to  whether  God 
is  personal,  the  reply  would  be  both  Yes  and  No.  That  is 
why  we  said  at  the  beginning  of  the  section  on  the  God- 
idea  that  Pantheism  is  the  synthesis  of  the  thesis  Atheism 
and  the  antithesis  Theism,  including  both  and  being  neither. 
Speaking  in  the  figure  of  a  shield.  Pantheism  is  the  main 
body  of  the  shield.  Atheism  is  the  smooth  and  barren  con- 
cave surface,  while  the  convex  surface  represents  the  theistic 
phase.  The  convex  surface  faces  the  foe  of  practical  life  and 
it  may  have  on  it  one  central  decoration  (Semi-theism),  or 
it  may  be  decorated  with  many  symbols  (Polytheism). 
Whether  they  be  many  or  only  one  they  are,  after  all,  only 
surface  decorations.  The  surface  decorations  may  be  the 
picture  of  those  who  have  attained  Buddhahood  and  so  are 
an  encouragement  to  the  one  who  bears  it,  but  they  can  be 
hardly  more  than  that ;  for  again  let  us  remember  that  Bud- 
dhism really  knows  of  no  personal  God  except  such  as  man 
can  himself  become,  i.e.  the  Divine  is  only  such  as  is  within 
man. 

4.  Polytheistic  Buddhism.  — While  philosophic  Buddhism 
is  monistic  with  a  strong  bent  towards  agnosticism,  popular 
Buddhism  is  pluralistic  and  realistic.  The  average  Buddhist 
believer  is  incurably  pol;>i:heistic,  and  the  philosophical  dis- 


THE   GOD-IDEA  227 

tinctions  between  atheism,  theism  and  pantheism,  which 
we  have  made  above,  do  not  mean  much  to  him,  for  these 
monistic  concepts  are  beyond  the  uneducated  masses.  They 
are  at  best  mere  shadowy  backgrounds  of  the  picture,  the 
foreground  is  occupied  by  gods  innumerable.  Just  as  in  the 
poHtical  hfe  of  Japan  there  has  ahvays  been  but  one  dynasty 
and  one  emperor  recognized  but  kept  far  removed  from  the 
common  people  by  the  various  ranks  of  officials  who  acted 
as  intermediaries,  so  in  the  religious  life  of  Japan  the  monistic 
Absolute  was  too  far  removed  from  the  needs  of  practical 
life  and  the  realistic  gods  of  popular  polytheism  have  func- 
tioned instead. 

We  give  here  a  list  of  the  more  popular  deities.  Some  of 
them  are  of  Indian  or  Chinese  origin  gradually  taken  on  by 
popular  Buddhism  ;  others  came  from  Shinto  and  are  regarded 
as  Shinto  deities  but  are  worshiped  by  most  Buddhists,  and 
still  others  are  a  mixture  of  Indian,  Chinese  and  Japanese 
elements.  The  order  is  alphabetical  rather  than  according 
to  importance. 

Amaterasu,  the  Sun  Goddess,  the  leading  Shinto  deity,  but 
as  ancestress  of  the  Imperial  family  is  worshiped  by  Bud- 
dhists and  Shintoists  alike.  Other  names  under  which  this 
goddess  is  known  are  Daijingu,  Shimmei  and  Ten-Shoko- 
Daijin. 

Amida,  worshiped  by  the  masses  as  a  god  or  a  Buddha 
among  many  Buddhas  rather  than  as  the  one  and  only 
Buddha  of  theistic  philosophy. 

Atago,  a  Shinto  deity  worshiped  as  the  god  who  pro- 
tects against  fire. 

Benten,  or  Benzaiten,  one  of  the  seven  deities  of  good 
luck.  The  other  six  are  Bishamon,  Daikoku,  Ebisu,  Fuku- 
rokuju,  Hotei,  and  Jurojin.  Benten  may  be  known  by  the 
serpent  or  dragon  as  her  symbol. 

Binzuru,  a  God  of  Healing,  is  very  popular  with  the  ignorant 
classes  and  his  image  is  frequently  adorned  with  hood,  bib 
and  mittens.  The  famous  image  at  the  Asakusa  Kwannon 
temple  touched  by  all  who  have  pain  is  a  real  spreader  of 
disease,  but  so  strong  is  the  faith  in  its  healing  power  that  the 


228  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

more  enlightened  oflBcial  world  has  not  dared  to  forbid  the 
practice, 

Bishamon,  one  of  the  seven  deities  of  Luck,  also  a  god  of 
War,  and  so  is  represented  with  armor,  spear  and  toy  pagoda. 

Daikoku,  one  of  the  seven  deities  of  Luck,  especially  the 
God  of  Wealth,  usually  seated  on  bales  of  rice,  the  main  item 
of  wealth  in  old  Japan. 

Dainichi  Nyoryai,  worshiped  as  the  God  of  Wisdom  and 
Purity  rather  than  as  the  Eternal  Buddha  of  philosophic 
Buddhism. 

Daiseishi,  usually  associated  with  Amida  and  Kwannon. 

Ehisu,  one  of  the  seven  deities  of  Luck  and  usually  repre- 
sented with  a  fishing-rod  and  a  tai  fish.  He  is  the  special 
patron  of  honest  labor. 

Emma-0,  the  ruler  of  the  Buddhist  hells. 

Fudo,  probably  a  God  of  Wisdom,  which  characteristic  is 
represented  by  flames.  This  symbol  has  led  many  to  worship 
him  as  God  of  Fire. 

Fugen,  a  special  patron  of  those  who  practice  a  certain 
ecstatic  meditation.  His  image  is  frequently  associated  with 
that  of  S'akyamuni. 

Gongen,  a  general  term  for  Shinto  deities  regarded  as  tem- 
porary manifestations  of  Buddhas ;  frequently,  however,  this 
term  is  applied  to  leyasu. 

Hachimaii,  the  God  of  War. 

Inari,  the  Goddess  of  the  Rice,  symbolized  by  her  servant 
the  fox  whom  many  regard  as  the  goddess  herself. 

Izanagi  and  Izanami,  the  Creator  and  Creatress  of  Japan. 

Jizo,  the  very  popular  deity  of  those  who  are  in  trouble, 
especially  the  patron  of  travelers,  pregnant  women  and  little 
children.  The  images  of  this  popular  deity  are  perhaps  more 
numerous  than  any  other.  It  may  be  recognized  by  the  staff 
in  one  hand  and  the  jewel  in  the  other,  and  especially  by 
the  pebbles  heaped  upon  it  by  the  numerous  devotees. 

Kishi  Bojin,  like  Jizo,  a  protector  of  little  children. 

Kompira,  a  deity  held  in  special  regard  by  seamen  and 
travelers. 

Koshin,  a  deification  of  the  day  of  the  monkey  in  the  calen- 


THE  GOD-IDEA  229 

dar  and  symbolized  by  three  monkeys,  i.e.  the  blind  monkey, 
the  deaf  monkey  and  the  dumb  monkey. 

Kwannon,  the  God  or  Goddess  of  Mercy.  The  full  name 
is  Kwanzeon  Dai  Bosatsu,  and  the  original  Sanskrit  word 
Avalokitesvara  means  The-One-Who-Looks-Down-from- 
Above.  Perhaps  no  deity  plays  a  bigger  role  in  popular 
Buddhism,  and  the  famous  Asakusa  Kwannon  temple  in 
Tdkyo  is  the  most  frequented  spot  in  all  Japan,  though  it 
must  be  admitted  that  in  recent  years  the  crowds  are  drawn, 
perhaps,  more  by  the  ''movies"  which  flank  two  sides  of 
the  temple  grounds  than  by  the  temple  itself. 

Miroku,  the  Buddhist  Messiah,  for  whom  the  pious  still 
wait. 

Monju,  an  apotheosis  of  wisdom  and  usually  associated 
with  the  images  of  S'akyamuni. 

Ni-0,  the  two  Deva  kings,  Indra  and  Brahma,  who  stand 
guard  at  temple  gates  to  keep  away  the  demons. 

Onamuji,  or  Okuni-nushi,  the  deity  who  gave  his  throne 
to  the  ancestors  of  the  Imperial  Family. 

Sengen,  the  Goddess  of  Mt.  Fuji,  the  sacred  mountain  and 
pride  of  Japan. 

Sliaka,  i.e.  S'akyamuni,  w^orshiped  by  the  masses  as  a  god 
or  Buddha  among  other  gods  and  Buddhas.  By  some  he 
is  worshiped  simply  as  the  founder  of  Buddhism,  while 
by  others  he  is  regarded  as  the  incarnation  of  the  Eternal 
Buddha. 

Shi-Tenno,  Four  Heavenly  Kings  who  protect  the  devotee 
from  demons,  each  guarding  one  quarter  of  the  compass. 

Suitengu,  a  sea-god. 

Stisa-no-O,  brother  of  Amaterasu,  and  regarded  as  God  of 
the  Sea,  or  God  of  the  Moon. 

Tenjin,  an  apotheosis  of  the  great  Sugawara-no-Michizane. 
He  is  worshiped  as  the  God  of  Calligraphy. 

Toshogu,  an  apotheosis  of  leyasu  and  worshiped  as  the 
Illuminator  of  the  East. 

Toyo-Uke-Bime,  or  Uke-Mochi-no-Kami,  Goddess  of  Food 
or  Goddess  of  the  Earth. 

Yakushi  Nyorai,  the  Divine  Healer. 


230  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE    BUDDHISM 

These  are  among  the  more  popular  deities  worshiped  by 
the  masses  and  to  them  might  be  added  a  long  list  of  other 
Bodhisattvas  and  Buddhas,  angels  and  saints  which  receive 
more  or  less  worship  as  superhuman  beings.  In  fact,  the. 
making  of  gods  is  not  altogether  a  lost  art  even  in  modern 
Japan,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  the  late  Emperor 
Meiji  Tenno  and  Admiral  Togo  are  being  rapidly  enshrined 
in  the  hearts  of  the  common  people  as  superhuman  beings. 
This  may  seem  strange  to  the  Western  mind,  but  it  is  a  very 
natural  process  from  the  Buddhist  or  Shint5  standpoint 
which  refuses  to  make  a  clear-cut  distinction  between  the 
human  and  the  divine. 

As  we  have  said  above,  these  realistic  gods  of  popular 
polytheism  play  a  far  more  important  part  in  the  life  of  the 
average  Buddhist  adherent  than  do  the  abstract  monistic 
conceptions  of  Mahayana  philosophy.  In  fact,  even  to  the 
Buddhist  philosopher  this  realistic  polj-theism  is  not  alto- 
gether disagreeable  and  supplies  more  of  a  content  to  his 
monistic  abstractions  than  is  usually  realized ;  for  the  gods 
of  polytheism  may  be  regarded  as  temporary  beings  like 
man  himself  which  are  personal  now  but  have  no  ultimate 
existence  as  personal  beings,  they  may  be  regarded  as  subject 
to  and  manifestations  of  the  one  Supreme  Being  (Semi- 
theism),  or  they  may  be  regarded  as  mere  parts  of  the  pan- 
theistic whole  into  which  they,  like  man,  are  ultimately 
absorbed.  But  as  we  have  said,  the  most  congenial  philo- 
sophic background  of  polytheism  is  pantheism.  Or  to  put 
it  the  other  way  around,  polytheism  is  the  popular  aspect 
of  the  philosopher's  pantheism.  Thus  polytheism  is  not  a 
coordinate  division  with  atheism,  theism  and  pantheism, 
but  it  is  the  popular  complement  of  these,  especially  of  the 
latter. 

As  we  have  already  said,  Buddhism  was  polytheistic  before 
it  reached  Japan,  but  it  became  even  more  so  after  it  ab- 
sorbed the  innumerable  gods  (Yaoyorozu  no  kamigami.  Eight 
hundred  myriads  of  gods)  of  the  native  Shinto.  If  the 
resultant  of  the  union  between  Buddhism  and  Shinto  is 
strongly  Buddhistic  on  the  philosophical  side,  on  its  popular 


THE  GOD-IDEA  231 

religious  side  it  often  seems  more  Shintoistic.  The  truth  is 
that  Buddhism  in  Japan  could  win  its  place  only  by  giving 
to  the  popular  Shinto  gods  a  conspicuous  place  in  its  pan- 
theon, and  while  the  Buddhist  philosopher  has  reduced  these 
gods  to  mere  manifestations  of  the  older  Buddhist  deities,  to 
the  average  Japanese  believer  they  have  more  or  less  kept 
their  former  place.  This  alone  can  explain  the  fact  that  even 
to  this  day,  after  thirteen  centuries  of  Buddhist  history  in 
this  land,  the  small  shrines  to  Shinto  deities  exist  by  the 
tens  of  thousands,  and  the  greater  Shinto  deities  such  as 
Amaterasu,  Hachiman,  Inari  occupy  a  prominent  place  in 
Japanese  religious  life.  In  spite  of  the  separation  of  Shinto 
from  Buddhism  made  in  the  ]\Ieiji  era,  the  people  in  general 
do  not  give  their  allegiance  exclusively  to  one  or  the  other, 
but  regard  themselves  as  being  Shintoists  and  Buddhists 
at  one  and  the  same  time. 

And  now  let  us  refer  for  a  moment  to  the  Chart  of  the 
Ten  Buddhist  Worlds  and  see  how  this  gradation  of  beings, 
which  is  essentially  Indian  in  origin,  was  well  adapted  to 
absorb  the  Shinto  cosmology.  This  scale  of  beings  fixes  man 
near  the  center,  and  provides  for  four  grades  below  him  and 
for  five  grades  above.  The  grade  immediately  above  man 
is  the  Realm  of  Heavenly  Beings,  or  the  Realm  of  the  Gods. 
Now  Shinto  had  no  scale  like  this,  but  it,  too,  believed  in 
beings  lower  than  man  and  beings  higher  than  man.  The 
beings  higher  than  man  were  the  gods;  in  fact,  the  very 
word  for  God  in  Japanese  probably  meant  originally  simply 
that  which  is  "above"  or  "superior."  It  is  a  rather  striking 
fact  that  the  realms  below  man  in  the  Buddhist  scale  were 
not  enriched  from  the  Shinto  cosmology.  There  was  com- 
paratively little  of  the  horrible  demonology  of  India,  China 
and  Korea  in  primitive  Shinto.  There  was  much  of  spirits 
and  ghosts  and  some  of  these  were  more  or  less  malicious,  but 
on  the  whole,  Shinto  had  little  of  the  horrors  of  hell  and  de- 
monology which  we  find  in  other  Asiatic  religions.  It  was 
rich  in  deities  —  nature  deities,  personifications  of  abstrac- 
tions, apotheoses  of  great  ancestors  and  heroes  etc.  —  and 
these  "eight  hundred  myriads  of  gods"  were  added  to  the 


232  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

ever-growing  pantheon  of  popular  Buddhism.  And  there 
they  have  remained  down  to  our  enlightened  day,  so  that  in 
the  life  of  the  common  people  they  play  a  bigger  role  than 
do  the  abstract  speculations  of  the  Buddhist  philosopher. 

The  God-idea,  then,  in  Japanese  Buddhism  is,  as  we  said 
at  the  beginning  of  this  section,  an  exceedingly  complex  one. 
It  varies  all  the  way  from  a  low  animistic  conception  up 
through  ancestor  worship  and  a  variegated  polytheism  until 
it  reaches,  in  the  minds  of  the  philosophers  and  better  ed- 
ucated classes,  a  monistic  form  which  leans  to  atheism  on 
one  side  and  "to  semi-theism  on  the  other,  but  whose  real 
core  is  best  expressed  by  the  vague  pantheism.  And  all 
three  philosophic  conceptions  are  in  the  last  analysis  under- 
mined by  an  agnosticism  which  makes  every  assertion  about 
the  nature  of  the  divine  futile,  and  seeks  to  remind  us  that 
all  human  knowledge  is  but  seeing  things  from  the  standpoint 
_  of  Accommodated  Truth,  and  not  as  things  really  are. 

But  we  cannot  close  the  remarks  on  the  God-idea  in 
Japanese  Buddhism  without  adding  a  few  words  by  way  of 
supplement.  There  is  among  educated  Japanese  quite  a 
large  number  of  those  who  would  class  themselves  as  Bud- 
dhists, but  who  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  specific  teachings 
of  Buddhist  philosophy,  and  yet  whose  general  intelligence 
forbids  them  to  believe  in  the  pol;yi;heistic  ideas  of  the  un- 
educated masses.  It  seems  safe  to  say  that  many  of  these 
have  at  least  a  vague  belief  in  a  Personal  God  who  is  the 
Great  Intelligence  which  controls  this  universe  of  ours,  and 
who  is  the  Moral  Power  which  in  some  way  will  reward  the 
righteous  and  punish  the  wicked,  both  in  this  life  and  in  the 
life  to  come.  And  there  are  still  more  whose  conception  is 
less  theistic  but  rather  neo-pantheistic.  They  draw  their 
inspiration  from  modern  science,  which  in  its  most  reverent 
moods  recognizes  dimly  an  eternal  mysterious  life  or  energy 
permeating  all  things.  This  neo-pantheism  differs  from  the 
old  Oriental  pantheism  in  that  it  puts  a  greater  value  upon 
the  physical  universe.  For  while  the  older  pantheism  always 
held  that  the  pluralistic  world  of  experience  is  the  mani- 
festation of  the  One-All,  it  nevertheless  regarded  this  mani- 


MAN  AND  HIS  CONDITION  233 

festation  as  inherently  evil  and  as  something  to  be  avoided. 
These  neo-pantheists,  or  spiritual  monists,  are  reverent  to- 
wards the  physical  world  and  see  in  it  the  mysterious  workings 
of  an  all-pervasive  energy,  or  life.  We  might  say  they  are  dis- 
ciples of  Spinoza  and  our  pantheistic  poets  rather  than  of  the 
old  Oriental  school.  Their  God-idea  is  almost  theistic,  with 
all  the  emphasis  placed  on  the  immanence  of  God,  ignoring 
that  God  also  transcends  his  universe.  This  belief  may  not 
be  strong  enough  always  to  restrain  such  men  from  sin  and 
to  lead  them  in  the  paths  of  righteousness  and  peace,  but 
it  is  there.  It  is  from  the  ranks  of  such  men  that  Chris- 
tianity makes  its  converts,  for  they  are  the  ones  who  have 
breathed  most  deeply  the  modern  Western  atmosphere  which, , 
though  it  contains  much  that  is  evil,  also  contains  much  that  \ 
is  Christian. 

F.   Man  and  His  Condition 

1.  The  Nature  of  Man.  —  In  Christian  thought  there  is  a 
clear  distinction  between  God  and  man  on  the  one  hand,  and 
between  man  and  the  lower  beings  on  the  other  hand.  It  is 
true  that  the  distinction  between  man  and  the  rest  of  nature 
has  been  somewhat  obliterated  in  modern  thought  by 
certain  schools  of  philosophy,  and  no  thinkers  in  the  West 
would  deny  that  man  is  linked  closely  with  nature,  at  least 
on  one  side.  But  after  this  has  been  granted,  Western 
thought  still  maintains  that  man  is  a  unique  being  in  nature 
and  that  there  is  a  wide  gap  between  him  and  other  animals ; 
at  least,  man  has  within  him  capacities  which,  when  devel- 
oped, make  of  him  a  decidedly  higher  order  of  being.  In  Bud- 
dhism these  lines  of  demarcation  between  God  and  man  on 
the  one  side,  and  between  man  and  lower  beings  on  the  other 
side,  are  not  so  clear.  As  we  have  repeatedly  said,  man  is 
placed '  somewhere  about  the  center  in  the  scale  of  beings 
which  inhabit  the  Buddhist  universe.  The  Ten  Realms  of 
beings  into  which  the  universe  is  divided  merge  one  into 
the  other  so  that  the  lower  constantly  becomes  the  higher, 
and  the  higher  degenerates  into  the  lower.  Man's  good 
Karma  leads  him  to  birth  into  a  heavenly  realm,  or  if  his 


234  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

evil  Karma  preponderates,  he  is  born  into  a  state  lower  than 
the  human.  Thus  a  being  which  now  is  human  may,  in  the 
next  incarnation,  be  either  a  god  or  an  animal  or  demon. 

But  what  is  the  origin  of  man  according  to  Buddhism? 
In  Genesis  we  read  that  God  created  man  in  his  own  image. 
However  modern  thought  in  the  Christian  world  has  changed 
the  formulation  of  this  idea,  the  Christian  of  to-day  believes 
as  firmly  as  the  Old  Testament  writers  that  God  was  prior 
to  man  and  in  some  way  created  man,  either  outright  or 
through  a  slow  evolutionary  process.  And  he  also  believes 
that  man  is  created  in  God's  image,  i.e.  man,  like  God,  is  a 
rational  personal  being.  Buddhism  does  not  posit  a  Per- 
sonal God  prior  to  the  universe,  nor  does  Buddhist  thought 
hold  that  God  has  created  man.  It  rather  holds  that  where 
man  thinks  of  the  Divine  in  terms  of  a  personal  being  he  is 
creating  God  in  his  own  image.  The  universe  has  always 
been,  and  man,  or  beings  like  him,  have  always  been.  And 
such  beings  probably  always  will  be  as  long  as  the  monistic 
whole  breaks  up  into  the  pluralism  of  individual  beings. 
Ever  since  the  wind  of  primordial  Ignorance  has  broken  up 
the  ocean  of  Sameness  into  the  waves  of  individual  beings, 
man  has  existed,  and  human  beings  will  continue  to  come 
and  go  as  long  as  the  waves  of  mentation  disturb  the  eternal 
Calm.  Man  is,  then,  not  the  creation  of  an  all  wise  and 
loving  God,  but,  like  all  individual  existence,  is  an  accident 
of  primordial  Ignorance  which,  when  once  it  begins  to  func- 
tion, works  on  and  on  by  the  law  of  Karma  unceasingly,  or 
till  it  is  exliausted. 

The  inner  constitution  of  man  and  the  way  in  which  the 
law  of  Karma  works  is  explained  by  the  doctrine  of  the 
Twelve  Links  in  the  Karma-chain.  This  has  already  been 
given  above  in  the  section  on  the  Theory  of  Knowledge. 
This  is  exceedinglv  difficult  for  the  Western  mind  to  under- 
stand,  largely-,  however,  because  Western  psychology  realizes 
too  clearly  that  the  self  is  a  unity  which  cannot  be  under- 
stood by  such  an  analytic  process  and  by  what  is  essentially 
a  mechanistic  conception. 
I  It  is  commonly  held  that  Buddhism  denies  the  reality  of 


MAN  AND  HIS  CONDITION  235 

the  self  or  the  soul.  This  is  true  in  that  Buddhism  refuses 
to  hold  that  the  ego  is  a  permanent  reality,  but  not  in  the 
sense  that  Buddhism  denies  the  reality  of  the  psychic  in 
human  nature.  In  fact,  Buddhism  regards  the  psychic  as 
the  deepest  reality  in  human  nature.  The  self  in  the  Western 
sense  Buddhism  would  call  the  Provisional  Self,  and  would 
regard  it  as  a  resultant  of  the  physical  organism  of  the  body. 
This,  however,  does  not  mean  that  the  physical  organism, 
or  matter,  is  regarded  as  the  deepest  reality ;  it  is  itself  the 
product  of  a  deeper  reality,  which  deeper  reality  is  to  be 
thought  of  more  in  terms  of  the  psychic  nature  of  man  than 
in  terms  of  the  physical.  This  psychic  reality  is  something 
like  the  Will  of  Schopenhauer's  philosophy.  It  is  that 
blind  "will-to-be"  which  gives  rise  to  individual  beings,  and 
especially  to  such  beings  as  man,  who  is  self-conscious  and 
who  therefore  thinks  that  the  self  of  self-consciousness  is 
a  permanent  reality.  It  is  not  a  permanent  reality  but  only 
a  fleeting  phase  of  the  chain  of  life  which  has  as  its  permanent 
element,  or  core,  only  this  psychic  power,  or  this  blind 
"will-to-be."  It  is,  then,  neither  the  self  of  self-consciousness, 
nor  the  physical  organism,  that  gives  rise  to  this  self  that  is 
the  permanent  reality  in  human  nature,  but  it  is  that  mys- 
terious "will-to-be"  that  gives  rise  to  both  the  physical 
organism  and  the  self  of  self-consciousness.  This  mysterious 
energy,  strange  to  say,  continues  to  "will-to-be"  as  long 
as  it  is  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  true  being,  and  especially, 
ignorant  of  the  nature  of  the  self  of  self-consciousness. 
That  is  why  man  is  born  again  and  again  into  this  world, 
and  only  when  the  blind  energy  which  makes  up  the  real 
core  of  his  being  has  been  enlightened  will  it  be  free  from 
individualizing  itself  in  human  beings.  Thus  according  to 
Buddhism  the  real  source  of  man,  as  well  as  the  source  of 
all  individual  existence,  is  that  ignorance  which  somehow 
enters  reality  and  makes  the  eternal  Oneness  form  itself  into 
individual  beings.  The  first  link  in  the  chain  of  Karma  is 
the  link  of  Ignorance. 

This  is  the  philosophical  explanation  which  Buddhism 
makes  of  the  origin  and  inner  constitution  of  man.     It  is, 


236  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

perhaps,  needless  to  say  that  the  common  Buddhist  knows 
nothing  about  this  doctrine  except  that  he  beHeves  in  the 
transmigration  of  the  soul.  That  is,  he  believes  that  the 
present  generation  of  human  beings  upon  the  earth  has 
existed  before,  either  as  human  beings,  or  as  lower  or  higher 
forms  of  beings.  Even  this  conception  is  not  held  consist- 
ently, for  the  average  Buddhist  in  Japan  makes  some  room 
for  the  Shinto  explanation ;  namely,  that  the  people  of  Japan 
are  really  the  descendants  of  the  Imperial  Family,  and  that 
their  ancestry  goes  back  to  the  gods  of  heaven  and  earth. 
This  is  at  least  the  orthodox  Japanese  doctrine  which  no 
Buddhist  dared  challenge  in  the  past.  The  educated  classes 
of  to-day  in  the  Buddhist  fold,  who  are  ignorant  of  the  Bud- 
dhist explanation  and  to  whom  the  Shinto  explanation  is 
too  childish,  naturally  accept,  in  a  vague  way  at  least,  the 
Western  naturalistic  explanation  of  man's  origin ;  namely, 
that  Nature,  spelled  with  a  capital,  has  somehow  produced 
man  and  made  him  as  he  is.  For  practical  purposes,  they 
would  say,  we  must  treat  the  self  as  real,  but  just  what  the 
self  is  or  what  becomes  of  it  need  not  concern  the  practical 
man.  Religion,  this  type  of  Buddhist  would  say,  should 
seek  more  to  develop  strong  men  who  are  able  to  do  the 
work  of  the  world  than  spend  its  time  in  speculating  about 
the  nature  of  the  self  or  its  final  destiny. 

2.  Man's  Condition.  —  As  man  finds  himself  near  the  cen- 
ter of  the  scale  of  living  beings  his  condition  is  better  than 
that  of  beings  lower  down  in  the  scale,  and  worse  than  that  of 
those  above  him.  His  is  an  existence  of  joy  and  sorrow, 
pleasure  and  pain.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  dark  side  of 
life  overbalances  the  bright  side,  for  all  pleasures  are  fleet- 
ing and  end  in  sorrow ;  all  youth  and  strength  end  in  old 
age,  weakness  and  death.  In  our  first  chapter  we  spoke  of 
the  Four  Noble  Truths  of  Buddhism  and  we  saw  that  the 
first  of  these  is  the  truth  that  life  is  essentially  sorrow  and 
suffering.  We  repeat  this  truth  here,  for  Japanese  Bud- 
dhism, though  much  less  pessimistic  than  Indian  Buddhism, 
after  all,  accepts  this  estimate  of  life  as  substantially  correct. 

"Now  this  is  the  Noble  Truth  as  to  suffering.     Birth  is 


MAN  AND  HIS  CONDITION  237 

attended  with  pain,  decay  is  painful,  disease  is  painful,  death 
is  painful.  Union  with  the  unpleasant  is  painful,  painful  is 
separation  from  the  pleasant ;  and  any  craving  unsatisfied, 
that,  too,  is  painful." 

This  thought  has  become  the  possession  of  the  whole 
Buddhist  world  and  has  cast  a  shadow  over  the  life  of  Asia 
which  is  broken  only  occasionally  by  the  rays  of  hope  of  a 
more  optimistic  world  view.  Japan  is  least  pessimistic  of 
the  nations  of  the  Orient,  but  even  happy  Japan,  of  whom 
one  of  its  ancient  poets  (Hitomaru)  wrote,  "Japan  is  not  a 
land  where  men  need  pray,  for  'tis  itself  divine,"  is  deeply 
imbued  with  the  idea  of  the  vanity  of  life  and  the  transitori- 
ness  of  all  pleasure.  The  following  passages  taken  from  the 
sacred  scriptures  are  characteristic : 

"  Water  flows  on  but  does  not  always  overflow,  fire  burns 
brightly  but  soon  dies  down,  the  sun  rises  but  only  to  sink 
in  the  west,  the  moon  waxes  but  soon  wanes  again.  Less 
permanent  than  all  these  is  the  glory  and  power  of  man." 

"  In  this  world  every  one  who  has  been  born  returns  unto 
death,  and  even  an  endless  life  must  come  to  an  end.  The 
prosperous  must  some  day  be  ruined,  and  those  who  meet 
must  part  again.  Youth  does  not  last  long,  and  sickness 
overtakes  those  with  rosy  cheeks.  Manifold  sufferings  en- 
compass life  and  continue  without  ceasing.  In  the  Three 
Worlds  all  things  are  transient,  and  there  is  no  pleasure  in 
the  things  that  are." 

"  There  are  four  things  in  this  world  that  are  transient ; 
namely,  stability  which  is  really  instability,  fortune  which 
ends  in  poverty,  meeting  which  ends  in  separation,  and 
health  which  ends  in  death." 

"  The  flower  of  youth  fades  with  the  speed  of  a  galloping 
steed." 

"  Like  the  ox  whose  every  step  brings  him  that  much  nearer 
to  the  slaughter  is  the  life  of  man ;  for  every  day  brings  him 
that  much  nearer  the  grave." 

"Man's  life  in  this  world  is  like  the  flash  of  lightning." 

The  Buddhist  would  agree  with  the  heathen  earldorman 
of  Northumbria  when  he  compared  human  life  with  a  spar- 


238  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

row  flying  by  chance  into  the  light  and  warmth  of  the  banquet 
hall  and  then  passing  out  again  into  the  cold  and  the  dark. 
However  pleasant  it  may  be,  it  cannot  last  long,  and  this 
fact  mars  the  pleasure  while  it  lasts,  not  to  mention  the  fact 
that  for  most  men  suffering  and  sorrow  far  outweigh  the 
bright  side  of  life. 

Christianity,  too,  has  a  great  deal  to  say  about  the  vanity 
of  life  as  lived  by  the  average  man.  It,  too,  holds  that  the 
ordinary  pleasures  of  life  are  short  and  that  there  is  much 
sorrow  and  suffering  for  all,  but  Christianity  speaks  of  the 
vanity  of  life  in  contrast  with  the  abiding  realities  of  the 
spiritual  world.  It  does  not  regard  human  life  as  incurably 
evil  as  Buddhism  does ;  for,  after  all,  "the  earth  is  the  Lord's 
and  the  fullness  thereof."  jNIan  is  not  to  cut  the  ties  which 
bind  him  to  life  in  order  to  escape  from  evil,  as  in  Buddhism, 
but  by  God's  grace  he  is  to  triumph  over  the  evils  and  diffi- 
culties, and  transmute  them  into  higher  values  and  victory. 
Paul's  philosophy  of  suffering  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  Ro- 
mans could  not  have  been  written  by  a  Buddhist. 

3.  The  Cause  of  Life's  Evils.  —  What  is  the  cause  of  the 
sorrow  and  suffering  in  human  life  according  to  Buddhism  ? 

We  have  seen  above  that  the  very  origin  of  man  is  due  to 
the  primordial  Ignorance,  or  that  blind  desire  for  individual 
existence  which  somehow  is  inherent  in  the  universe.  Nat- 
urally this  blind  desire  constitutes  the  core  of  man's  being, 
and  so  is  the  seat  of  his  sorrows  and  sufferings.  The  second 
of  the  Four  Noble  Truths  of  Buddhism  given  in  Chapter  I 
is  the  truth  about  the  origin  of  suffering,  and  it  is  formulated 
as  follows : 

"  Now  this  is  the  Noble  Truth  as  to  the  origin  of  suffering. 
Verily;  it  is  the  craving  thirst  that  causes  the  renewal  of 
becomings,  that  is  accompanied  by  sensual  delights,  and 
seeks  satisfaction,  now  here  and  now  there  —  that  is  to 
say,  the  craving  for  the  gratification  of  the  senses,  or  the 
craving  for  a  future  life,  or  the  craving  for  prosperity." 

In  short,  then,  it  is  the  desire  for  the  pleasures  of  life, 
the  desire  for  self-assertion,  which  causes  the  sufferings  of 
life.     And  why  is  it  that  man  desires  the  things  which, 


MAN  AND  HIS  CONDITION  239 

though  they  are  pleasant,  always  end  in  disappointment  and 
suffering?  It  is  because  man  is  ignorant.  Ignorance  is 
the  first  link  in  the  Karma-chain.  It  gives  rise  to  the  for- 
mation of  the  individual,  till  in  the  eighth  link  of  the  Karma- 
chain  we  reach  Desire,  i.e.  the  lust  of  the  flesh.  This  De- 
sire leads  to  a  clinging  to  existence  and  a  passion  for  the 
things  that  cannot  permanently  satisfy.  This,  in  turn, 
leads  to  rebirth  into  this  world  of  evil,  and  so  the  Wheel  of 
Life  keeps  repeating  its  endless  revolutions. 

In  Buddhism,  therefore,  it  is  not  so  much  that  "  the  wages 
of  sin  is  death"  as  that  the  wages  of  ignorance  is  suffering. 
Man's  state  is  not  so  much  a  state  of  sin  as  one  of  ignorance. 
It  is  true  that  Buddhism  uses  the  word  Sin,  but  hardly  with 
the  import  which  it  has  in  Christian  thought,  for  without 
the  Christian  conception  of  God  the  Christian  idea  of  sin 
is  unintelligible.  In  fact,  it  is  more  accurate  to  say  that 
Buddhism  speaks  of  Evil  rather  than  of  Sin.  And  Evil  is 
rather  an  effect  than  a  cause;  namely,  the  effect  produced 
by  ignorance  or  error.  In  the  practical  ethics  of  Buddhism 
the  conception  of  sin  seems  to  find  a  place,  but  hardly  in 
the  connection  concerning  which  we  are  speaking  now.  It 
is  better  to  say  that  Buddhism  makes  no  distinction  between 
sin  and  evil.  That  is,  if  Job  is  afflicted  above  his  neighbors, 
it  is  because  he  is  the  greater  sinner,  and  those  "eighteen 
upon  whom  the  tower  in  Siloam  fell"  were  deeper  sinners 
than  their  neighbors  and  deserved  the  punishment. 

This  is  a  natural  answer  for  Buddhism  to  make,  and  fol- 
lows directly  from  its  cardinal  doctrine  of  Karma.  The 
evils  of  human  life  belong  to  the  state  of  human  beings,  and 
onl}'  that  being  is  born  into  the  human  state  which  deserved 
to  be  there,  or  rather,  which  through  the  inexorable  work- 
ings of  the  law  of  Karma  has  caused  itself  to  be  born  into 
that  state.  That  is,  the  character  of  one's  environment  cor- 
responds to  the  nature  of  one's  being,  and  vice  versa;  so 
that  an  evil  being  is  in  an  evil  environment,  and  a  good  being 
in  a  good  environment.  This  harmony  between  being  and 
environment  is  known  as  the  Two  Fruits  of  Shoho  and 
Iho.     The  evils  of  life  are  the  fruits  of  past  deeds,  which 


240  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

past  deeds  may  be  called  sins,  or  acts  of  ignorance;  and 
the  sins,  or  acts  of  ignorance,  of  the  present  life  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  cause  of  present  and  future  evils. 

Sin,  then,  in  Buddhism  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  moral 
affront  to  God,  but  rather  as  a  foolish  act  which  necessarily 
brings  the  one  who  commits  it  a  present  or  future  evil.  No 
true  Buddhist  could  have  written  the  fifty-first  Psalm  and 
especially  not  the  words,  "Against  thee,  thee  only  have  I 
sinned."  Sin  is  essentially  folly,  for  what  sane  man  would 
do  that  which  is  sure  to  bring  evil  upon  himself  ?  The  real 
trouble  with  man  is  that  he  is  ignorant,  rather  than  that  he 
is  in  moral  rebellion  against  God's  will ;  he  needs  a  renewal 
of  mind  rather  than  a  change  of  heart.  This  is  why  the 
Buddhist  gospel  of  salvation  is  presented  as  an  Enlighten- 
ment of  the  mind  rather  than  a  Regeneration  of  the  heart ; 
and  the  whole  teaching  of  Buddhism  is  cast  in  the  form  of 
right  thinking  rather  than  right  moral  purpose.  Man  is  to 
be  saved  from  evil  rather  than  from  sin,  and  sin  as  the  cause 
of  evil  is  ignorance  rather  than  wrong  moral  purpose.  Men 
are  not  sinners  so  much  as  fools,  and  Buddhism  seeks  to 
make  of  them  sages  rather  than  saints.  But  this  brings  us 
to  a  new  subject ;  namely,  the  subject  of  Salvation  in  Jap- 
anese Buddhism. 

G.   Salvation 

The  subject  of  Salvation  naturally  falls  into  two  general 
divisions;  namely,  the  Essence  and  Goal  of  Salvation,  and 
the  Way  or  Means  of  Salvation.  Of  course,  it  is  impossible 
to  keep  these  two  aspects  entirely  separate  in  one's  presen- 
tation of  the  matter,  for  the  essence  and  goal  of  salvation 
are  in  part  the  way  and  means.  Thus,  e.g.  it  may  be  said  that 
in  Buddhism  the  essence  and  goal  of  salvation  is  Enlighten- 
ment, and  that  the  way  and  means  to  achieve  this  is  through 
Enlightenment.  It  is  also  difficult  to  say  which  of  these 
two  aspects  should  be  taken  up  first,  but  it  seems  best  to 
state  first  what  Japanese  Buddhism  means  by  Salvation, 
and  then  show  what  it  regards  as  the  Way  to  attain  this. 

1.    The  Essence  and  Goal  of  Salvation.  —  The  essence  and 


SALVATION  241 

goal  of  the  salvation  offered  by  Buddhism  is  expressed  most 
generally  by  that  mystifying  word  Nirvana  (Jap.  Nehan). 
Salvation  is  to  enter  Nirvana. 

But  what  is  meant  by  entering  Nirvana  ? 

The  meaning  of  this  word,  even  in  primitive  Buddhism, 
has  led  to  much  discussion  among  scholars.  It  used  to  be 
maintained  that  Nirvana  means  a  cessation  of  being,  ex- 
tinction, or  total  annihilation.  Salvation  therefore  meant 
an  "  escape  "  from  life  —  life  which  is  incurably  evil.  In 
recent  years,  however,  there  has  been  a  reaction  against  this 
interpretation,  and  Nirvana  is  taken  to  mean  not  only  an 
"escape"  from  evil,  but  also  an  "entrance"  into  a  life  of 
bliss.  But  whether  that  life  of  bliss  is  to  continue  beyond 
physical  death  is  not  always  so  clear.  That  question  in 
primitive  Buddhism,  as  we  pointed  out  in  Chapter  I,  was 
put  among  the  Great  Indeterminates.  At  any  rate,  it  seems 
true  that  if  the  founder  of  Buddhism  believed  in  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  Arhat  beyond  death,  he  hesitated  to  say 
anything  very  definite  as  to  the  nature  of  such  a  life.  But  as 
w^e  pointed  out  in  Chapter  II,  when  primitive  Buddhism  be- 
gan to  develop  into  Mahayana  Buddhism,  the  doctrine  of  a 
future  life  of  bliss  began  to  assert  itself  in  one  way  or  another. 
In  Chinese  Buddhism  the  chief  function  of  the  Buddhist 
priests  seems  to  have  centered  about  funerals  and  matters 
relating  to  the  world  to  come.  And  in  Japan,  too,  both 
in  popular  and  philosophical  Buddhism,  salvation  means  not 
merely  an  "escape"  from  the  dread  cycle  of  existence,  but 
often  the  "entrance"  into  a  present  and  future  life  of  positive 
content.  Thus  we  have  as  one  of  the  great  summaries  of 
Buddhist  doctrine  the  pregnant  phrase,  "Riku  Tokuraku," 
"Escaping  from  Suffering  and  Obtaining  Bliss."  That  is, 
salvation  is  both  an  "escape"  and  an  "entrance." 

It  is  true  that  some  philosophers  say  that  "obtaining 
bliss"  simply  means  the  "escape  from  suffering"  and  not 
the  obtaining  of  a  positive  good,  but  the  majority  of  Jap- 
anese Buddhists  would  hold  that  "obtaining  bliss"  does 
mean  the  entrance  into  an  existence  of  real  content.  There 
are  various  ways  of  interpreting  the  meaning  of  this  "con- 


242  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

tent,"  as  we  shall  see.  But  first  let  us  show  from  the  very 
process  by  which  the  Buddhist  obtains  Buddhahood  that 
salvation  means  an  "entrance"  into  something  good  as  well 
as  an  "escape"  from  evil. 

We  must  again  refer  to  the  Buddhist  chart  of  the  Ten 
Worlds.  The  Human  World  is  placed  fifth  from  the  bot- 
tom. Above  the  Human  World  is  the  Realm  of  Heavenly 
Beings,  and  above  this  are  the  Four  Holies,  the  highest  of 
which  being  Buddhahood,  or  the  Buddha  World.  Now 
salvation  consists  in  passing  out  of  the  Human  World  into 
the  worlds  above  the  human.  Thus  salvation  is  naturally 
a  matter  of  degrees  and  is  only  perfect  when  one  has  entered 
into  the  highest  of  the  Ten  Worlds ;  namely  into  the  Buddha 
World.  This  passage  from  the  lower  worlds  into  the  higher 
worlds  is  naturally  both  an  "escape"  from  evil  and  an 
"entrance"  into  bliss.  Thus  when  man  passes  into  the 
world  above  him  he  escapes  from  the  sufferings  and  limitations 
characteristic  of  the  Human  Sphere  and  becomes  a  sharer 
of  the  bliss  characteristic  of  his  new  environment.  But  as 
the  Realm  of  Heavenly  Beings  still  belongs  to  the  Six  Ways 
or  the  Three  Worlds  in  which  the  law  of  Karma  is  oper- 
ative, beings  in  this  heavenly  world  are  in  danger  of  falling 
back  into  the  human  and  lower  worlds.  Therefore  entrance 
into  the  world  of  heavenly  beings  is  not  true  salvation, 
however  desirable  it  may  be  when  compared  with  human 
life.  Buddhism  offers  a  full  salvation,  and  so  it  must  save 
man  out  of  this  realm  of  heavenly  beings.  Other  religions, 
the  Buddhist  would  say,  may  accomplish  this  limited  sal- 
vation, but  only  Buddhism  brings  man  the  complete  sal- 
vation ;  it  offers  salvation  into  the  Four  Holies,  yea,  into 
the  Holiest  of  Holies,  the  Buddha  state. 

The  lowest  of  the  Four  Holies  is  the  Hearer  State 
(Sravaka,  Jap.  Shomon),  and  this  has  four  grades.  To 
enter  the  lowest  of  these  four  grades  is  to  enter  the  Fellow- 
ship of  the  Saints.  He  who  has  entered  the  second  grade  is 
subject  to  return  but  once  more  to  the  Six  Ways  or  the  Three 
Worlds  where  the  law  of  Karma  reigns.  He  who  has  en- 
tered the  third  grade  is  certain  of  ultimately  obtaining 


SALVATION  243 

absolute  salvation.  And  to  enter  the  fourth  grade  is  to  be 
free  from  evil,  and  such  a  one  has  really  reached  the  first 
stage  of  true  Buddhahood. 

The  second  of  the  Four  Holies  is  the  Pratyeka  Buddha 
State  (Jap.  Enkaku).  He  who  has  entered  this  state  has 
broken  the  twelve  links  of  the  Karma-chain,  and  thus  has 
escaped  from  the  dread  Wheel  of  Life  and  entered  the  begin- 
nings of  true  enlightenment.  Of  course,  such  enlightenment 
as  compared  with  that  of  the  perfect  Buddha  is  still  very 
shallow.  Nirvana  to  such  a  one  is  void  of  all  passions  and 
sufferings  and  is  filled  with  the  bliss  of  knowledge. 

But  a  fuller  salvation  than  that  of  the  Pratj^eka  Buddha 
is  that  of  the  Bodhisattva  (Jap.  Bosatsu).  The  one  who 
has  attained  this  lofty  degree  of  salvation  has  not  only  es- 
caped himself  from  the  evils  of  life  and  entered  bliss,  but 
such  a  one  finds  the  bliss  of  salvation  to  consist  in  helping 
others  to  escape  from  the  Wheel  of  Life  and  enter  a  life  of 
positive  bliss.  A  Bodhisattva  returns  into  the  human  world 
again  and  again,  not  because  he  is  bound  to  the  Wheel  of 
Life  and  so  is  dragged  down,  but  because  he  is  bound  by 
the  law  of  love  and  sympathy  for  suffering  humanity.  That 
is.  Nirvana  to  a  Bodhisattva  is  not  an  extinction  or  total 
anniliilation,  but  it  is  a  great  work  of  annihilating  the  pas- 
sions and  sufferings  in  the  lives  of  others.  This  he  does  by 
practicing  the  Six  Virtues  ^  of  almsgiving  and  teaching,  keep- 
ing the  commandments,  patience  and  longsuffering,  diligence, 
meditation  and  wisdom  in  fulfillment  of  his  Four  Great 
Vows  "^  to  save  all  beings,  to  destroy  all  passions,  to  know 
and  teach  others  all  laws  and  to  lead  others  to  under- 
stand the  ways  of  Buddha  however  lofty.  With  these 
characteristics  it  is  not  strange  that  popular  polytheistic 
Buddhism  gets  its  leading  deities  from  the  ranks  of  the 
Bodhisattvas, 

The  fourth  of  the  Four  Holies  is  the  Buddha  State.  When 
the  Bodhisattva  has  finished  his  noble  work  of  providing  a 
way  of  salvation  for  others,  then,  and  only  then,  does  he 
enter  the  bliss  of  true  Buddhahood.  Through  his  good 
work  of  saving  others  he  has  justified  to  himself  the  right  of 


244  STUDIES  IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

entering  into  the  highest  bliss,  into  the  perfect  rest  and 
peace,  into  real  Nirvana. 

Now  from  all  this  it  is  clear,  as  we  said  above,  that  Nir- 
vana, in  Japanese  Buddhism  at  least,  is  both  an  "escape" 
from  the  lower  stages  of  existence  and  an  "entrance"  into 
higher  stages  until  the  highest  of  all,  the  Buddha  State,  is 
reached.  Salvation  is  indeed  a  Riku  Tokuraku,  "An  Es- 
cape from  Evil  and  an  Obtaining  of  Bliss." 

But  while  it  is  clear  that  Nirvana  is  an  escape  from,  or  an 
annihilation  of,  the  lower  and  an  entrance  into  the  higher, 
it  is  not  yet  clear  from  what  has  been  said  as  to  what  is  the 
condition  of  one  who  has  entered  into  the  highest  state. 
What  is  the  condition  of  one  who  has  obtained  the  complete 
salvation  which  Buddhism  offers  ? 

The  answer  to  this  question  is  that  it  is  Buddhahood. 
But  then  what  is  really  meant  by  Buddhahood?  This,  as 
the  reader  will  observe,  is  bringing  the  subject  back  to  what 
we  have  already  discussed  in  the  section  on  the  God-idea. 
Without  repeating  in  full  what  we  said  there,  let  us  state 
briefly  the  substance  in  its  bearing  upon  the  matter  in  hand. 

We  saw  that  the  God-idea  in  Buddhist  philosophy  falls 
under  three  general  heads ;  namely.  Atheism,  Theism  or  Semi- 
theism,  and  Pantheism.  The  perfect  salvation  which  Jap- 
anese Buddhism  offers  to  all  beings  may  likewise  be  divided 
into  three  kinds ;  for  in  Buddhism  as  in  all  religions  the 
God-idea  conditions  the  idea  of  salvation,  and  vice  versa. 
It  is  a  real  case  of  "  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for  we  shall  see 
him  even  as  he  is." 

To  the  Buddhist  whose  God-idea  ends  practically  in 
zero,  Nirvana  also  approaches  the  vanishing  point.^  But 
just  as  no  Buddhist  in  Japan  would  say  that  existence  is 
absolutely  void  but  that  the  essence  of  existence  is  a  Some- 
thing which  transcends  the  categories  of  all  beings  known  to 
man,  so  Nirvana,  or  the  perfect  Buddha  State,  is  not  a  con- 
dition of  absolute  void  but  a  state  which  transcends  the 
categories  of  human  life.  It  is  a  total  annihilation  of  every- 
thing which  makes  up  this  present  phenomenal  world,  but 
it  is  not  therefore  an  absolute  void.     To  describe  such  a 


SALVATION  245 

state  would  be  to  limit  it,  and  its  very  essence  is  that  it  is  an 
existence  which  is  no  longer  bound  by  the  limitations  of  life 
as  we  know  it.  Not  only  should  we  not  think  of  Nirvana 
as  simply  a  higher  and  loftier  life  of  the  self  —  for  that 
would  still  be  thinking  of  it  in  definite  terms  —  but  we  are 
not  to  think  of  it  in  terms  of  any  form  of  existence.  Nir- 
vana is  the  state  which  transcends  all  existence  known  to 
us;  yea,  it  is  even  beyond  the  dualism  of  being  and  non- 
being.  It  is  the  "Dharma  of  non-duality,  because  those 
who  have  entered  a  meditation  in  which  there  is  no  sense- 
impression,  no  cogitation,  are  free  from  ignorance  as  well 
as  from  enlightenment.  This  holds  true  with  all  other 
dualistic  categories."  Thus  what  the  highest  stage  of  sal- 
vation means  transcends  all  knowledge,  and  the  wise  phi- 
losopher will  make  no  affirmation  about  it.  This  is  one 
answer  to  the  question  as  to  what  is  meant  by  Nirvana,  or 
the  essence  and  goal  of  salvation. 

To  the  Buddhist  philosopher  whose  God-idea  is  more  or 
less  theistic.  Nirvana  has  a  more  or  less  positive  and  definite 
content.  The  Amidaist  has  his  paradise.  Paradise  is  the 
abode  of  Amida  and  all  who  have  become  like  Amida ;  namely, 
all  who  have  attained  Buddhahood.  Of  course,  in  the 
popular  presentation  of  this  Paradise  doctrine  we  often  find 
very  realistic  pictures,  but  even  to  the  educated  Buddhist 
Amida's  Western  Paradise  stands  for  something  real  and 
is  conceived  of  in  terms  of  our  higher  psychic  life.  Thus 
"Nirvana  is  the  abode  of  all  those  who  see  the  reality  of 
all  principles."  "Nirvana  is  the  name  we  apply  to  the  re- 
gion of  all  the  Buddhas  who  have  cut  out  all  passions  from 
their  lives."  It  is  probably  true  that  to  some  intelligent 
Amidaists  salvation  and  Nirvana  mean  something  not  so 
very  different  from  what  salvation  and  'leaven  mean  to  an 
educated  Christian.  It  is  a  life  of  conquest  over  sin  and 
evil  and  a  fellowship  with  Amida  and  the  saints.  The  fol- 
lowing quotation  from  a  letter  of  an  old  woman  illustrates 
this  nobler  type  of  Buddhist  believers :  "  I  am  old  and  I  am 
a  woman,  and  it  is  not  expected  that  a  woman  will  know  much 
of  such  subjects,  but  I  will  tell  you  what  thoughts  I  have.    I 


246  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

am  weak  and  sinful,  and  have  no  hope  in  myself ;  my  hope 
is  all  in  Amida  Buddha.  I  believe  him  to  be  the  Supreme 
Being.  Because  of  the  wickedness  of  man,  and  because  of 
human  sorrow,  Amida  Buddha  became  incarnate  and  came 
to  earth  to  deliver  man ;  and  my  hope  and  the  world's  hope 
is  to  be  found  only  in  his  suffering  love.  He  has  entered 
humanity  to  save  it;  and  he  alone  can  save.  He  con- 
stantly watches  over  and  helps  all  who  trust  in  him.  I  am 
not  in  a  hurry  to  die,  but  I  am  ready  when  my  time  comes ; 
and  I  trust  that  through  the  gracious  love  of  Amida  Buddha 
I  shall  then  enter  into  the  future  life  which  I  believe  to  be  a 
state  of  conscious  existence,  and  where  I  shall  be  free  from 
sorrow.  I  believe  that  he  hears  prayer,  and  that  he  has 
guided  me  thus  far,  and  my  hope  is  only  in  his  suffering 
love." 

Another  pious  believer  in  Amida  writing  from  her  death- 
bed to  her  friends  expresses  herself  as  follows :  "  I  have 
been  ailing  for  several  days  past,  and,  believing  my  sickness 
to  be  a  messenger  of  death,  I  am  filled  with  joy,  trusting 
myself  entirely  to  His  mercies.  .  .  .  The  manifestation  of 
the  Tathagata  (Amida)  is  the  earnest  and  pledge  to  us  of 
our  entrance  into  Paradise.  Why  should  we  doubt?  .  .  . 
Should  my  sickness  change  for  the  worse,  I  shall  never  see 
you  again  in  this  life.  But  I  shall,  of  a  certainty,  see  once 
more,  in  the  Pure  Land,  all  those  who  are  partakers  with 
me  in  the  faith  that  I  have  in  Amida." 

These  are  indeed  noble  utterances,  and  the  faith  that 
permeates  them  seems  to  be  a  real  faith  in  a  living  God  whose 
salvation  alone  can  satisfy  the  heart  of  man.  But  after  we 
have  said  this  we  must  add  that  the  doctrine  of  Amida's 
salvation  and  his  Western  Paradise,  after  all,  breaks  down 
lamentably  in  the  case  of  the  Amidaists  themselves.  We 
shall  state  later  how  it  breaks  down  in  its  popular  form ; 
here  we  shall  indicate  how  it  breaks  down  philosophically. 
As  we  said  above,  the  God-idea  and  the  idea  of  salvation 
are  inextricably  connected  in  any  advanced  religion.  Now 
in  the  section  on  the  Theistic  God-idea  we  have  already 
shown  that  though  Amida  is  popularly  regarded  as  a  per- 


SALVATION  247 

sonal  being,  his  existence  as  a  personal  being  is  denied  by 
the  philosophers ;  not  only  by  the  exceptional  philosopher, 
but  practically  by  every  philosopher  of  the  Amida  sects 
themselves.  He  is  regarded  as  but  the  personification  of 
the  ideal,  the  ideal  of  mercy  and  wisdom.  He  is  not  really 
a  personal  being  existing  now.  The  conception  of  Amida 
as  a  personal  being  is  said  to  be  but  an  accommodation  of 
language.  From  the  standpoint  of  real  truth  Amida  van- 
ishes into  the  thin  mist  of  the  Absolute  concerning  which 
nothing  can  be  affirmed,  for  it  transcends  the  categories  of 
human  knowledge.  And  what  is  true  of  Amida  is  equally 
true  of  his  so-called  Western  Paradise  which  is  popularly 
said  to  be  "ten  trillion  worlds"  away.  The  Amida  phi- 
losopher not  only  denies  the  materialistic  aspects  of  Para- 
dise, so  dear  to  the  common  believer,  but  he  denies  also  the 
higher  aspects  conceived  in  terms  of  our  higher  and  spiritual 
life.  To  him  the  conception  of  Paradise,  like  that  of  Amida, 
is  only  an  accommodation  of  language.  Nirvana  is  to  him, 
as  it  is  to  the  atheistic  Buddhist,  a  great  void.  Of  course, 
he  would  not  say  that  it  is  an  absolute  void,  but  that  it  is  a 
state  which  transcends  all  categories  of  human  thought. 
Yea,  even  to  say  that  it  is  "a  state  which  transcends  all 
categories  of  human  thought,"  is  really  saying  too  much. 
As  a  result  of  this  agnostic  spirit  which  ever  flows  as  an 
undercurrent  of  Buddhist  thought  there  is  much  less  of  the 
joy  of  a  real  salvation  from  life's  sin  and  sorrows,  and  much 
less  of  the  hope  of  a  conquering  life  and  an  eternal  fellow- 
ship with  God  than  one  would  expect  among  Amida  Bud- 
dhists. The  two  letters  quoted  above,  with  their  note  of 
joy  and  confidence,  are  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule. 

And  now  what  must  we  say  as  to  the  meaning  of  salvation 
and  Nirvana  to  the  pantheistic  Buddhist?  He,  too,  would 
say  that  salvation,  or  Nirvana,  is  a  progressive  "escape" 
from  evil  and  an  "entrance"  into  a  higher  and  higher  good. 
He  differs  from  the  semi-theistic  Buddhist  in  that  where 
the  former  ordinarily  thinks  of  Nirvana  as  a  fellowship  of 
the  Buddhas,  the  latter  conceives  of  Nirvana  rather  as  a 
merging  of  the  individual  with  the  All-inclusive  Buddha. 


248  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Salvation  consists  in  knowing  that  Buddha  is  in  all  and 
all  are  in  Buddha.  But  just  what  that  state  is  in  which  the 
saved  are  merged  with  the  Divine  is  not  very  clear.  In 
fact,  the  pantheistic  philosopher  will  give  essentially  the 
same  answer  which  has  already  been  given  above  as  rep- 
resenting the  atheistic  and  semi-theistic  philosophers.  As 
the  true  essence  of  the  Divine-All  transcends  all  human 
knowledge  it  is  impossible  to  state  in  human  language  what 
is  the  condition  of  those  who  have  attained  perfect  salva- 
tion. It  is,  of  course,  a  freedom  from  the  suffering  inherent 
in  all  individual  existence.  It  is  a  rest  and  peace  which  is 
void  of  all  that  characterizes  our  present  life,  but  it  is  not 
therefore  an  absolute  void.  Only  in  negative  terms  can  one 
speak  of  it  at  all,  i.e.  a  negation  of  all  that  might  be  affirmed 
of  life  as  we  know  it. 

Thus  we  see  that  while  to  the  question  as  to  what  is 
meant  by  Nirvana  or  salvation,  in  Japanese  Buddhism,  sev- 
eral answers  may  be  given ;  they  merge  in  the  last  analysis 
into  the  same  answer.  They  all  agree  that  it  is  an  "escape 
from  evil  and  an  obtaining  of  bliss,"  but  what  that  highest 
bliss  may  be  is  impossible  to  say.  This  answer,  as  we 
have  stated  in  other  connections,  grows  logically  from  the  Bud- 
dhist theory  of  knowledge  which  claims  that  all  human 
knowledge  is  relative  and  of  the  shadow  world. 

"All  things  are  unstable,  for  this  is  the  law  of  life  and 
death.  When  life  and  death  are  completely  done  away, 
extinction  is  happiness." 

"  The  great  and  wide  expanse  of  space  is  called  empty  space. 
The  peace  of  Nirvana  is  like  this  empty  space,  being  an  im- 
mense void.  In  this  place  lives  no  ruler,  nor  is  it  the  abode 
of  the  ego." 

"Life,  death,  and  Nirvana  are  nothing  but  dreams  that 
have  passed ;  for  there  is  no  beginning  and  no  end,  there  is 
no  coming  and  no  going." 

But  while  the  meaning  of  Nirvana  and  salvation  in  phil- 
osophical Buddhism  vanishes  into  thin  mist,  it  is  quite  the 
opposite  in  popular  Buddhism.  Here  it  is  often  crudely 
realistic.     The   common   man   knows   comparatively   little 


SALVATION  249 

of  the  meaning  of  the  Four  Holies  and  less  of  the  ultimate 
goal  to  which  the  Four  Holies  are  supposed  to  lead.  To 
him  salvation  is  primarily  a  present  concrete  good  and  a 
shadowy  hope  of  a  future  life  of  happiness.  The  meaning 
of  this  "present  good"  differs,  of  course,  very  widely.  To 
some,  though  it  must  be  confessed  that  their  number  is  not 
very  large,  the  meaning  may  not  be  so  very  different  from 
what  it  is  to  the  average  Christian.  These  "more  noble" 
ones  seek  earnestly  to  conquer  the  lower  passion  and  to 
walk  in  the  path  of  righteousness  and  truth  to  the  extent  of 
their  ability.  And  salvation  beyond  the  present  life  they 
would  think  of  in  terms  of  our  present  higher  life  and  a  fel- 
lowship with  Buddha  and  the  saints.  The  passages  quoted 
from  the  letters  of  two  Buddhist  women  throw  light  on  the 
faith  of  this  nobler  type.  There  are  others  who  would  have 
less  to  say  about  the  help  of  Buddha  and  their  hope  of  a 
better  future,  but  to  whom  salvation  means  something  real 
in  the  form  of  a  higher  ethical  life  lived  in  obedience  to  the 
commandments  and  maxims  of  Buddhism.  That  is,  there 
are  devout  people  in  all  the  sects  to  whom  Buddha's  salvation 
is  something  real  and  rather  noble. 

There  is,  however,  a  darker  side  to  the  picture.  Just  as 
the  God-idea  as  held  by  the  general  run  of  believers  is 
incurably  polytheistic  and  often  revoltingly  crude,  so  the 
conception  of  salvation  is  on  an  exceedingly  low  plane.  It 
is  real  enough.  Yea,  just  because  philosophical  Buddhism 
has  lost  itself  in  the  clouds  of  abstract  speculations  and  has 
not  been  faithful  in  proclaiming  the  higher  life  in  compre- 
hensible terms,  the  common  man  has  been  left  to  himself, 
and  thus  he  thinks  of  salvation  largely  in  terms  of  life  on  the 
lowest  plane.  He  has  made  gods  a  little  higher  (and  some- 
times a  little  lower)  than  himself,  and  the  salvation  which 
such  gods  offer  is  naturally  in  harmony  with  their  nature. 
Thus  the  common  man  turns  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  gods 
in  the  crowded  pantheon  and  expects  from  each  the  help 
for  which  the  deity  has  special  qualification  to  bestow.  To 
the  various  gods  of  Luck  the  worshiper  turns  for  good  luck 
in  various  fields.     Binzuru's  images  are  worn  smooth  by  the 


250  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

touch  of  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  who  rub  the 
various  parts  of  the  god's  anatomy,  and  then  the  correspond- 
ing part  of  their  own  in  the  hope  that  they  might  be  healed  of 
their  physcial  infirmities,  Jizo  is  implored  by  the  child- 
less for  an  offspring  and  by  bereaved  mothers  to  be  merciful 
to  their  little  ones  whom  death  has  snatched  from  their 
arms,  and  protect  them  from  the  hag  on  the  banks  of  the 
Buddhist  Styx.  Or  the  traveler  starting  on  a  journey  looks 
to  him  or  to  Kompira  for  protection  and  guidance.  When 
a  house  is  built  the  deities  of  the  Four  Regions  must  be 
consulted  and  satisfied  if  the  future  occupant  is  to  be  happy 
and  prosperous.  In  war,  prayers  for  victory  are  offered 
to  Hachiman  and  to  the  spirits  of  departed  heroes.  The 
peaceful  peasant  turns  to  the  Inari  shrines  for  a  good  rice 
crop ;  the  man  of  the  sea  looks  upon  Kompira  as  patron. 
And  whatever  may  be  needed  by  those  in  need  may  be  ob- 
tained from  the  all-compassionate  Kwannon  whose  images 
with  many  hands  inspires  the  worshiper  with  the  faith  that 
he  that  asketh  shall  receive.  When  the  various  deities  have 
done  their  part  in  giving  what  man  needs  for  this  life  and 
in  protecting  him  from  bad  luck  and  all  sorts  of  misfortunes, 
then  there  are  other  gods  and  Buddhas  who  will  help  him  in 
the  life  beyond.  Emma-0,  the  regent  of  the  Buddhist  hell, 
is  appeased  and  implored  to  be  merciful  to  those  under  his 
dominion.  Amida,  who  has  prepared  his  Western  Paradise, 
which  each  devotee  fills  with  whatever  suits  his  fancy,  is 
expected  by  many  to  care  for  all  who  call  upon  his  name. 

But  in  all  the  helps  which  the  various  deities  render  to 
mankind  there  is  a  surprising  absence  of  the  higher  aspects 
of  life.  Salvation  as  a  conquest  over  sin  and  a  growth  in 
righteousness  is  a  conception  not  generally  shared  by  the 
great  mass  of  those  who  call  themselves  Buddhists.  In 
fact,  it  is  not  difficult  to  show  that  popular  Buddhism  is 
often  responsible  for  keeping  the  people  bound  with  the  fet- 
ters of  sin  and  ignorance.  If  anyone  doubts  this  statement, 
let  him  visit  some  of  the  most  popular  centers  of  Buddhism 
and  look  around  with  open  eyes.  Not  only  are  the  temples 
frequently  surrounded  with  the  most  vulgar  sort  of  amuse- 


SALVATION  251 

ments  and  shows,  but  where  these  religious  pilgrims  gather 
in  large  numbers  the  brothels  are  not  far  away.  At  great 
religious  festivals  the  religious  element  is  usually  so  com- 
pletely overshadowed  by  the  frivolous,  the  superstitious 
and  the  immoral  that  their  effect  upon  the  participants  is 
that  of  a  grand  spree  and  debauch.  Whatever  may  be 
said  about  the  lofty  teachings  of  Buddhism  as  to  salvation 
and  Nirvana,  it  must  be  admitted  by  the  unbiased  ob- 
server that  Buddhism,  in  the  lives  of  the  great  majority  of 
its  adherents,  is  often  a  real  hindrance  to  the  higher  life. 
If  the  religion  of  the  Buddha  ever  w^as  a  power  unto  salva- 
tion to  Japan's  millions,  it  cannot  be  said  to  fill  such  a  func- 
tion to-day,  at  least  not  on  a  very  large  scale. 

2.  The  Way  of  Salvation.  —  If  the  essence  and  goal  of 
salvation  in  Buddhism  is  an  "escape  from  evil  and  an  en- 
trance into  a  life  of  bliss,"  and  if  the  cause  of  evil  and  the 
hindrance  to  entrance  into  the  life  of  bliss  is  Ignorance,  then 
it  follows  that  the  Way  of  Salvation  must  be  a  way  which 
leads  away  from  Ignorance  into  Knowledge.  Thus  we  have 
the  great  summary  of  the  Buddhist  mode  of  salvation, 
Tenmei  Kaigo,  "Turning  from  Error  and  Opening  Under- 
standing." Man  is  saved  by  knowing  the  truth,  the  Truth 
of  Buddhism. 

But  what  is  that  saving  truth  which  man  must  know  and 
which  Buddhism  offers  him  ?    This  is  a  question  which  has  a 
verj^  complex  answer. 

There  is  at  least  one  school  which  holds  that  this  saving 
truth  consists  in  "breaking  error,"  i.e.  truth  has  no  positive 
content,  and  the  spirit  of  truth  is  the  spirit  which  denies  all 
things,  for  this  world  is  a  shadow  world  and  therefore  must 
be  destroyed  by  a  process  of  negations.  Light,  this  school 
would  say,  is  not  a  positive  reality,  but  simply  the  absence 
of  darkness. 

But  just  as  we  saw  in  the  preceding  section  that  the  es- 
sence of  salvation  in  Japanese  Buddhism  has  ordinarily  a 
rather  positive  content,  so  the  way  of  salvation  is  usually 
not  simply  a  "breaking  of  error"  but  also  a  real  "opening 
of  the  understanding."    The  way,  however,  in  which  this 


252  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

breaking  of  error  and  opening  of  the  understanding  is  to 
be  achieved  varied  somewhat  in  the  different  sects. 

It  is  customary  to  divide  these  various  ways  into  two 
great  divisions.  These  divisions  correspond  roughly  to  the 
two  great  divisions  known  in  Christian  thought  as  the  Way 
of  the  Law  and  the  Way  of  Grace ;  or  the  Way  of  Good 
Works  and  the  Way  of  Faith.  There  are  several  ways  in 
which  the  chief  aspects  of  these  two  great  divisions  are 
expressed.  Thus  the  Way  of  the  Law  is  called  the 
Holy  Way  Division  (Jap.  ShodSmon),  or  Self-reliance  (Jap. 
Jiriki,  literally  meaning  Self-strength).  In  less  technical 
language  it  is  called  the  Way  of  Hardships  (Jap.  Nangyodd). 
On  the  other  hand,  the  doctrine  of  the  Way  of  Grace  is  called 
the  Pure  Land  Division  (Jap.  Jodomon)  from  the  fact  that 
it  teaches  a  salvation  in  Paradise  which  is  not  prepared  or 
earned  by  the  believer,  but  by  Amida.  In  contrast  with 
the  way  of  Self-reliance  it  is  called  Reliance  upon  Another 
(Jap.  Tariki,  literally  meaning  Another's  Strength),  and  in 
contrast  with  the  Way  of  Hardships  it  is  called  the  Easy 
Way  (Igyodo). 

a.  The  Way  of  the  Law. — The  first  of  these  two  great 
ways  of  salvation ;  namely,  the  Way  of  the  Law  of  Self- 
reliance,  is,  as  we  saw  in  Chapter  I,  the  way  proclaimed 
by  primitive  Buddhism.  It  recognized  apparently  no  sal- 
vation except  such  as  man  can  work  out  for  himself  through 
perfect  obedience  of  the  law  and  through  a  strict  w^alk- 
ing  in  the  Holy  Way  of  self-discipline.  This  one  must 
do  in  one's  own  strength  and  without  trust  in  the  assistance 
of  another.  The  majority  of  Japanese  sects  are  usually 
classified  as  teachers  of  this  rigid  way,  and  at  least  one 
sect ;  namely,  the  great  Zen  Sect,  really  carries  this  doctrine 
into  practice.  As  we  saw  in  the  section  on  the  God-idea, 
the  Zen  Sect  is  practically  atheistic,  and,  of  course,  the 
logical  corollary  of  atheism  is  that  man  cannot  look  to  God 
for  help,  but  that  he  must  save  himself.  Every  man  is  the 
sole  architect  of  his  own  future,  and  whatsoever  he  sows 
that  shall  he  also  reap.  Not  even  a  heavenly  being  can  in- 
tervene and  save  man  from  the  inexorable  workings  of  the 


SALVATION  253 

law  of  Karma.  He  must  save  himself  by  his  own  wisdom 
and  good  deeds.  "A  good  cause  brings  forth  good  fruit 
and  an  evil  cause  brings  forth  evil  fruit."  This  is  an  inexor- 
able law  and  is  called  Jigyo  jitoku,  "Self-do  self-get."  The 
good  cause  which  bears  good  fruit  is  the  walking  in  the 
way  of  self-discipline  and  knowledge  of  the  truth  about  life. 
"Self-denial,  constancy  and  wisdom  constitute  the  way  of 
deliverance."  "O  monks,  if  you  have  wisdom  you  will 
not  cling  to  worldliness.  Wherefore  examine  yourselves 
constantly  that  you  lose  not  wisdom ;  for  this  according  to 
my  teaching  is  the  way  of  deliverance.  If  any  one  loses 
wisdom,  he  is  no  longer  in  the  way,  nor  a  white-robed 
man,  but  only  a  nameless  one.  True  wisdom  is  a  strong 
ship  which  carries  us  across  the  sea  of  old  age,  sickness 
and  death.  And  again,  wisdom  is  the  great  light  which 
illumines  the  outer  darkness ;  it  is  an  effective  medicine 
for  all  patients,  and  a  sharp  ax  to  cut  down  the  trees  of 
passion." 

But  while  one  branch  of  Buddhism  teaches  a  rather  rigid 
doctrine  of  salvation  through  one's  own  strength,  there  is 
usually  some  room  left  for  the  doctrine  that  help  may  come 
from  another.  Even  the  architect  of  his  own  future  can 
receive  suggestions  from  another  as  to  how  to  build  that 
future.  Gautama  himself,  though  he  spurned  the  assistance 
of  the  gods  of  the  people  and  trusted  not  in  the  unknowable 
God  of  the  philosophers,  felt  that  the  way  of  salvation  which 
he  had  achieved  would  at  least  show  the  way  unto  others, 
and  so  be  a  real  help.  In  fact,  he  gave  his  life  to  the  task 
of  showing  others  his  way  of  salvation  and  preached  it  as 
the  way  in  which  all  the  Buddhas  before  him  had  walked. 
And  so  among  Japanese  Buddhists  who  hold  the  doctrine 
of  salvation  through  self-reliance,  there  is  at  least  the  recog- 
nition of  the  possibility  of  one  man  helping  another  to  the 
extent  of  showing  him  the  right  way.  It  is  true  that  the 
Zen  Sect  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  truth  cannot  be  trans- 
mitted by  the  written  or  spoken  word  but  must  be  trans- 
mitted from  heart  to  heart,  or  rather,  must  be  discovered 
by  each  one  within  his  own  heart ;  and  yet  even  the  strict- 


254  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

est  Zen  philosopher  thinks  it  possible  to  help  his  fellow  man 
at  least  to  the  extent  of  telling  him  that  he  must  and  can 
help  himself.  And  then  in  practical  life  the  Zen  teacher 
lays  a  great  deal  of  stress  on  the  ethical  principle  of  benev- 
olence which  naturally  implies  the  possibility  of  man  re- 
ceiving help  from  another,  even  though  that  other  be  only 
a  man. 

Then  besides  the  Zen  Sect  there  are  other  great  sects 
which  are  said  to  teach  this  doctrine  of  "Help  Thyself," 
but  which  make  equal  room  for  the  opposite  truth ;  namely, 
that  help  may  come  from  another.  Practically  every  one 
of  the  great  Japanese  sects  makes  room  for  the  Bodhisattva 
ideal  (a  main  characteristic  of  Mahayana  Buddhism) ;  and 
what  is  a  Bodhisattva  but  one  who  has  not  only  achieved 
his  own  salvation  but  is  willing  to  return  to  the  Three  Worlds 
again  and  again  in  order  to  help  others  attain  that  same 
state.  Even  when  the  doctrine  of  "Help  Thyself"  is  held 
in  the  most  extreme  form  it  is  usually  accompanied  by  the 
doctrine  that  in  the  last  analysis  everything  has,  as  the  core 
of  its  real  being,  the  Buddha  nature,  and  so  the  most  de- 
praved may  have  a  hope  of  ultimate  deliverance  from  the 
bondages  of  existence  even  though  there  is  no  immediate 
prospect  of  entrance  into  a  positive  salvation. 

b.  The  Way  of  Grace.  —  The  second  great  Way  of  Sal- 
vation taught  by  Japanese  Buddhism  is  the  Way  of  Grace, 
or  salvation  through  the  Strength  of  Another.  The  best 
representatives  of  this  way  are  the  Amida  sects,  especially 
the  Shin  Sect.  We  saw  in  the  section  on  the  God-idea 
that  the  Amida  sects  are  at  least  semi-theistic,  and  it  is 
natural  that  with  such  a  God-idea  these  sects  should  rec- 
ognize more  clearly  the  principle  of  Divine  Grace  in 
human  life  than  is  done  by  the  atheistic  and  pantheistic 
sects.  In  fact,  these  Amida  sects  not  only  recognize  this 
principle,  but  they  seem  to  carry  it  to  an  extreme  in  their 
popular  presentation  of  the  matter.  They  do  not  deny 
that  salvation  through  one's  own  strength  is  possible  —  it 
is  possible  for  the  few  strong  men,  and  especially  was  it 
possible  for  strong  men  back  in  the  golden  age  of  humanity 


SALVATION  255 

—  but  the  great  mass  of  mankind,  especially  in  these  degen- 
erate days,  need  help  from  Another  and  can  be  saved  only 
through  the  grace  of  Amida  who  has  worked  out  a  way  of 
salvation  for  all  living  beings  through  his  vicarious  suf- 
ferings and  hardships.  It  is  not  that  S'akyamuni  has  shown 
in  his  life  the  way  in  which  man  should  walk  in  order  to 
attain  enlightenment  and  so  freedom  from  the  evils  of  ex- 
istence, but  rather  that  Hozo  Bosatsu  who  became  the 
Buddha  Amida  made  a  great  vow  that  he  would  not  enter 
the  full  bliss  of  Buddhahood  until  he  had  prepared  a  way  of 
salvation  for  all  living  beings.  This  way  being  prepared  it 
remains  only  for  sinful  and  ignorant  humanity  to  appropri- 
ate the  heavenly  good  and  enter  Paradise  through  faith  in 
the  great  name  of  Amida. 

"Every  one,  who  through  the  might  of  Buddha's  Great 
Vow  hears  his  name  and  desires  to  be  born  into  Paradise, 
shall  enter  that  land  and  never  return"  (that  is,  he  shall 
never  be  born  again  into  this  world  of  evil) . 

"I  have  reached  the  time  of  my  final  doctrine.  There 
are  millions  of  men  who  are  trying  to  master  the  doctrine, 
giving  themselves  to  various  religious  practices ;  but  there 
is  not  a  single  one  who  has  attained.  These  are  my  final 
teachings.  I  say  this  is  an  evil  world  of  Five  Impurities 
and  only  one  gate  stands  ajar;  namely,  the  gate  that  leads 
to  Paradise." 

"  For  men  of  this  world  there  is  no  other  gate  which  leads 
from  this  life  of  sorrow  than  the  gate  which  opens  on  the 
way  that  leads  to  the  West."  (That  is,  the  way  to  Amida's 
Western  Paradise.)  "  All  living  beings,  who  rejoice  at  hear- 
ing the  sacred  Name  {i.e.,  Amida)  and  who  practice  with 
singleness  of  heart  the  religious  requirements  and  pray  to 
be  born  into  that  Land,  shall  obtain  such  birth  and  shall 
sit  upon  thrones  incorruptible." 

The  way  of  escape,  then,  from  this  world  of  evil  is  pos- 
sible because  Amida  has  prepared  such  a  way.  He  has  pre- 
pared a  heavenly  home  for  sinful  and  suffering  humanity, 
and  by  his  grace  he  leads  man  to  this  home.  No  matter  how 
low  man  has  sunk  he  is  still  worthy  of  being  saved  through 


256  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

this  way  of  grace,  "When  I  look  at  men,"  says  one  of  the 
scriptures,  "though  I  reaUze  that  they  are  sunk  in  the  pas- 
sions of  avarice,  anger  and  ignorance,  I  see  in  every  one  the 
wisdom  of  Buddha,  the  eyes  of  Buddha,  and  the  body  of 
Buddha.  O  Good  Generation,  every  man,  though  sunk  in 
passion,  has  within  him  the  undefiled  image  of  the  Nyorai, 
and,  equipped  with  virtue,  he  is  not  different  from  myself. 
This  image  is  like  pure  gold  which  cannot  lose  its  nature 
even  though  buried  out  of  sight  and  lost  to  knowledge  for 
many  years," 

Not  only  do  the  Amida  sects  preach  this  doctrine  of  sal- 
vation through  the  Strength  of  Another,  but  we  might  say 
that  all  popular  Buddhism,  in  one  way  or  another,  holds 
that  man  receives  aid  and  salvation  from  the  gods,  Buddhas 
and  Bodhisattvas.  Each  one  of  these  many  deities  has  his 
own  peculiar  function  as  a  helper  of  man,  for  what  is  the  use 
of  deities  if  they  cannot  help  man  in  the  hour  of  need  ?  The 
way  of  the  Law  and  Self-discipline  is  largely  confined  to  the 
better  educated  classes.  The  masses,  whether  Amidaists 
or  not,  as  a  rule  expect  their  gods  to  take  care  of  them.  The 
gods,  of  course,  must  be  propitiated  through  various  rites 
and  ceremonies,  and  to  that  extent  man  must  earn  their 
help  and  protection. 

We  said  above  that  the  salvation  prepared  by  Amida 
needs  only  to  be  appropriated  by  man  to  receive  the  full 
benefit ;  but  how  is  man  to  appropriate  it  ?  By  faith  and 
faith  alone,  say  the  true  Amidaists,  It  is  sometimes  cus- 
tomary among  believers  in  Amida  to  divide  Buddhism  as  a 
whole  into  two  great  divisions,  and  to  say  that  one  teaches 
that  man  is  saved  through  philosophical  wisdom,  and  the 
other  that  man  is  saved  solely  through  faith.  Such  a  clear- 
cut  division  is  a  little  arbitrary ;  for  in  a  true  sense  Buddhism 
as  a  whole  is  a  faith,  and  the  very  foundation  of  its  theories 
of  knowledge,  as  we  saw  above,  is  a  "credo  ut  intelligam." 
Then  also  the  formula  which  the  Buddhists  of  all  sects  use 
is  a  formula  of  faith ;  namely,  "  I  take  refuge  in  Buddha,  the 
Law,  and  the  Priesthood."  There  are  many  passages  in 
the  various  scriptures  which  show  that  faith  plays  an  im- 


SALVATION  257 

portant  part  in  the  way  of  salvation.  The  following  are 
but  a  few  examples : 

"A  man  without  hands  can  receive  nothing  even  though 
he  should  come  to  a  mountain  of  treasures ;  neither  can  the 
man  who  has  not  the  hands  of  faith  obtain  anything  even 
though  he  should  meet  the  Three  Treasures"  {i.e.  Buddha, 
the  Law  and  the  Priesthood). 

"Faith  is  the  key  to  the  understanding  and  knowledge  of 
Buddha." 

"The  good  root  is  righteous  faith." 

"  Only  by  faith  can  one  venture  out  upon  the  great  ocean 
of  Buddha's  law." 

"  Faith  is  the  crown  of  every  deed  and  the  basis  of  every 
virtue." 

"Faith  is  the  chief  treasure  in  the  treasury." 

The  Nirvana  scripture,  speaking  of  the  relation  between 
knowledge  and  faith,  says  they  are  complementary.  "  Faith 
without  knowledge  leads  to  the  conceit  of  ignorance,  and 
knowledge  without  faith  begets  a  stony  heart.  Therefore 
only  as  these  two  are  well  blended  do  they  become  the  basis 
of  good  deeds." 

But  after  we  have  said  that  faith  is  recognized  by  all 
sects  as  important,  it  is  true  that  faith  in  the  sense  of  trust 
is  par  excellence  the  characteristic  of  that  mode  of  salvation 
which  puts  its  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  Amida.  There 
are  some  Amidaists  who  rely  still  in  part  on  the  fruits  of 
their  own  good  deeds,  but  at  least  one  sect,  the  Shin,  claims 
to  appropriate  the  heavenly  good  offered  by  Amida  solely 
by  accepting  it  in  simple  faith  and  trust,  for  through  this 
act  of  faith  the  believer  is  said  to  be  made  one  with 
Amida.  "The  man  who  relies  upon  Amida  is  said  to  have 
become  merged  with  Namu  Amida  Butsu  and  thinks  him- 
self under  his  protection."  And  with  this  thought  passes 
away  all  worry  of  sin  and  good  works  to  counterbalance 
evil  deeds. 

Not  only  is  the  heavenly  good  offered  by  Amida  to  the  be- 
liever appropriated  by  faith,  but  faith  itself  is  said  to  be  the 
gift  of  Amida.     In  the  words  of  a  recent  writer  on  this  point, 


258  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

"  Faith  is  the  gift  of  Another  because  it  is  not  a  faith  which 
is  fixed  through  the  believer's  own  efforts,  but  entirely  through 
the  influence  of  the  great,  merciful  heart  of  Amida.  This 
faith  is  wrought  through  the  enlightened  vow  of  Amida,  and 
to  fill  the  believer's  heart  with  faith  is  Amida's  desire." 

So  far  is  this  principle  of  grace  carried  in  its  popular  pres- 
entation that  the  hearer  is  told  that  to  repeat  but  once  or 
a  few  times  the  prayer,  Namu  Amida  Butsu,  is  sufficient  to 
insure  him  birth  into  the  Western  Paradise.  Some  Ami- 
daists  are  still  too  conscious  of  the  old  Karma  doctrine  to 
admit  that  a  deathbed  repentance  can  lead  to  immediate 
birth  into  Paradise.  They  hold  that  a  deathbed  repent- 
ance and  faith  in  Amida  will  ultimately  lead  to  birth  into 
Paradise.  Such  a  man's  lotus,  to  use  the  Buddhist  termi- 
nology, will  some  day,  perhaps  tens  of  thousands  of  years 
later,  open  up  and  he  will  thus  be  born  into  Amida's  Para- 
dise. As  a  rule,  however,  the  Amida  believer  is  taught 
that  he  will  enter  Paradise  immediately  after  death  and 
that  even  now  he  is  in  Paradise,  for  he  lives  in  the  assurance 
of  the  great  hope. 

Good  works,  the  careful  Amidaist  says,  are  necessary  as 
signs  of  the  believer's  salvation,  and  they  should  be  done  out 
of  gratitude  for  the  gift  of  Amida's  grace.  Good  works  are 
not  causes  of  salvation  but  rather  effects  of  salvation. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  this  beautiful  doctrine  of  sal- 
vation through  faith  in  Amida's  saving  grace.  In  practice 
this  doctrine  is  often  an  antinomianism  of  the  worst  type. 
In  fact,  the  Amidaists  sometimes  boast  that  their  doctrine 
of  grace  is  more  lofty  than  the  Christian  doctrine  because 
Christians  seem  to  pay  a  good  deal  of  attention  to  moral 
conduct,  after  all,  while  Amida  saves  every  one  no  matter 
how  vile.  As  one  Christian  critic  who  is  well  acquainted 
with  the  practical  workings  of  Buddhism  puts  it,  where  the 
Christian  doctrine  teaches  that  man  is  saved  from  sin,  i.e. 
from  its  guilt,  pollution  and  power,  the  doctrine  of  these 
followers  of  Amida  is  that  man  is  saved  in  sin.  He  is  saved 
from  the  evils  of  existence  into  the  Western  Paradise  just 
as  he  is.    He  may  do  anything  he  pleases,  for  nothing  can 


SALVATION  259 

separate  him  from  the  bliss  of  Paradise,  not  even  sin.  A 
recent  Buddhist  writer,  speaking  on  the  behever's  life  hVed 
in  gratitude  for  Amida's  salvation,  expresses  himself  as  fol- 
lows :  "  When  we  pursue  our  daily  duties  and  work  cheer- 
fully and  assiduously,  even  though  we  indulge  in  lies  and 
sharp  practices,  we  help  spread  the  way  of  Buddha,  and  so 
even  our  lies  and  sharp  practices  become  expressions  of 
gratitude."  To  such  an  extreme  has  this  doctrine  of  grace 
been  carried  that  the  indifference  of  the  Amidaists  to  self- 
culture  in  the  past  gave  rise  to  the  jibe,  "  Zenshu  zeni  nashi, 
Monto  mono  wo  shirazu,"  "The  Zen  followers  have  no 
money,  the  Monto  (Shin)  followers  have  no  knowledge." 

But  not  only  is  this  doctrine  of  salvation  through  the  grace 
of  Amida  much  abused  in  its  popular  presentation,  and 
often  leads  to  a  mere  superstitious  repetition  of  the  prayer 
Namu  Amida  Butsu  without  working  a  change  of  heart  or 
enlightening  the  mind;  in  the  last  analysis  it  also  breaks 
down  philosophically.  We  have  already  seen  in  the  section 
on  the  God-idea  that  Amida  is,  after  all,  only  such  a  "god 
as  man  can  and  has  become."  The  so-called  vicarious 
savior  in  Amida  Buddhism  is  not  God  come  in  the  flesh,  but 
man  through  his  own  strength  become  a  god.  Hozo  Bosatsu 
was  first  an  ordinary  man  and  then  became  the  Buddha 
Amida.  Perhaps  this  would  not  be  such  a  serious  defect 
to  many  minds,  for  it  would  mean  that  a  man  has  demon- 
strated the  possibility  of  becoming  god,  and  such  a  one  could 
really  help  other  men  to  escape  from  the  evils  of  this  world 
into  the  bliss  of  another  world.  But  there  is  another  weak- 
ness in  this  Buddhist  savior-idea.  The  man  Hozo  Bosatsu 
has  not  a  shred  of  historicity  about  him,  but  is  a  mere  fiction 
of  the  fertile  imagination.  And  further,  Amida,  according 
to  the  Amidaists  themselves,  has  no  real  personal  existence 
but  is  only  the  personification  of  the  idea  of  mercy  and 
wisdom.  Thus  the  savior  in  Amidaism  is  reduced  to  a  mere 
savior-idea,  and  this  idea  has  no  real  ontological  reference. 
And  if  there  is  really  no  Amida  and  no  savior,  then  what 
becomes  of  the  Savior-idea?  Those  modern  psychologists 
who  hold  that  an  idea  is  as  good  as  the  reality  for  which  it 


260  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

stands  as  long  as  the  idea  functions,  may  be  quite  right. 
But  the  question  is,  How  long  will  an  idea  function  if  those 
who  hold  it  do  not  believe  that  it  stands  for  a  reality?  Ob- 
viously it  will  not  function  long  or  very  vigorously.  If  my 
creditor  thinks  that  the  check  I  hand  him  is  worth  five  dol- 
lars, then  it  is  worth  five  dollars  to  him  and  to  me ;  but  un- 
less I  have  a  deposit  with  the  bank  on  which  I  give  him  the 
check,  and  unless  the  bank  has  back  of  the  checks  it  issues 
some  value  equal  to  five  dollars,  then  the  man  is  a  fool  to 
accept  my  check.  And  so  if  back  of  the  Savior-idea  and 
the  God-idea  in  Amida  Buddhism  there  is  no  real  God  and 
Savior  (as  the  Amidaists  themselves  admit  that  there  is  not), 
then  it  would  not  be  strange  if  the  savior-idea  should  cease 
to  function  effectively  as  the  believer  is  educated  in  the 
teachings  of  his  own  religion.  And  that  is  exactly  what 
happens  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten.  For  the  ignorant  Buddhist 
the  savior-idea  functions,  yea  functions  too  realistically,  but 
for  the  enlightened  Buddhist  it,  too,  becomes  but  one  of 
those  ideas  with  which  to  allure  the  common  herd  but  which 
must  not  be  taken  too  seriously.  Salvation  through  faith 
in  Amida's  grace  is  to  him  but  an  accommodation  of  lan- 
guage, and  does  not  represent  anything  really  true. 

Thus  in  spite  of  the  strong  resemblance  between  Chris- 
tianity and  Amida  Buddhism  in  thi^  doctrine  of  salvation 
there  is  this  radical  difference ;  that  the  Christian  Savior- 
idea  has  its  ontological  reference  in  the  historic  personality 
of  Jesus  Christ,  while  the  Buddhist  idea  has  confessedly 
no  such  reference.  "The  inexhaustible  fountain  of  religious 
strength,"  writes  Cumont  in  his  little  volume  on  Mithras, 
"which  flowed  from  the  doctrine  of  the  Passion  and  Cruci- 
fixion of  the  Son  of  God  never  flowed  for  the  disciples  of 
Mithras."  The  same  may  be  said  with  equal  truth  about 
the  savior  in  Amida  Buddhism ;  no  real  "  fountain  of  religious 
strength  "  has  ever  flowed  or  can  ever  flow  from  him,  for 
he  confessedly  never  existed. 

The  two  great  divisions  in  Buddhist  doctrine  of  Salvation 
through  Man's  Own  Strength  and  Salvation  through  the 
Strength  of  Another,  after  all,  merge  into  one,  and  we  must 


SALVATION  261 

say  that  Buddhism  knows  no  way  of  salvation  except  such 
as  man  has  worked  out  for  himself.  God  cannot  save  man, 
for  in  the  last  analysis  there  is  no  real  God  in  Buddhism  ex- 
cept the  unknowable  and  indifferent  Absolute.  And  thus 
once  more  we  see  things  vanishing  into  thin  mist,  and  what 
to  the  common  man  may  seem  very  real,  to  the  educated 
Buddhist  it  belongs  to  the  uncertainty  of  all  human  knowl- 
edge. 

3.  The  Extent  and  Speed  of  Salvation.  —  There  are  some 
aspects  of  the  Way  of  Salvation  which  are  not  brought  out 
clearly  in  the  above  discussion  but  which  are  rather  impor- 
tant from  the  Buddhist  point  of  view.  These  aspects  per- 
tain to  the  extent  and  what  we  might  call  the  Speed  of  the 
process  of  salvation. 

As  to  the  extent  of  salvation  Buddhists  are  usually  uni- 
versalists.  In  fact,  not  only  shall  all  mankind  be  saved  ul- 
timately,^ but  everything  that  lives  and  moves  shall  share  in 
this  universal  salvation.  If  it  is  possible  for  an  evil  man 
by  the  law  of  Karma  to  be  born  into  a  state  lower  than  the 
human  state,  then  it  is  also  possible  by  the  operation  of  the 
same  law  for  beings  in  the  lower  states  to  be  born  into  higher 
and  higher  states  until  finally  they  enter  Buddhahood.  Thus 
we  read  in  the  Paradise  sutra,  "  In  every  living  being  dwells 
the  essence  of  Buddha,"  and  therefore,  "everything  that 
has  a  heart  can  surely  attain  Buddhahood." 

This  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  rests  on  slightly  dif- 
ferent bases  in  the  different  sects,  as  might  be  expected. 
The  pantheistic  Buddhists  find  the  ground  of  their  belief  in 
the  thought  that  since  every  individual  existence  is  a  part  of 
the  Great-All,  there  can  be  no  permanent  separation  or  loss ; 
or  still  better,  the  thought  of  separation  and  loss  is  but  error, 
and  in  reality  does  not  exist.  The  Amidaist,  on  the  other 
hand,  finds  his  hope  of  a  universal  salvation  in  the  thought 
of  Amida's  boundless  mercy.  So  great  is  this  mercy  that  it 
cannot  fail  to  save  all  that  lives  and  moves.  "The  Buddha 
heart  is  great  mercy.  With  this  absolute  mercy  which  is 
not  bound  by  circumstances  it  saves  all  living  beings." 

As  to  the  speed  with  which  the  salvation  of  any  being  is  to 


262  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

be  accomplished  Buddhists  differ  rather  widely.  The  older 
Buddhists,  conscious  of  the  workings  of  the  inexorable  law 
of  Karma,  usually  held  that  the  process  by  which  a  being  is 
to  pass  through  the  various  grades  of  existence  until  it 
reaches  the  highest  state  of  Buddhahood  is  a  very  long  and 
gradual  process.  Thus  Gautama  is  said  to  have  lived 
through  many  incarnations  before  he  finally  attained  en- 
lightenment. But  as  Buddhism  developed,  and  especially 
after  it  reached  the  northern  peoples,  Buddhists  became  im- 
patient with  this  slow  process  and  in  one  way  or  another 
developed  a  way  by  which  salvation  can  be  attained  speedily. 
Thus  we  have  in  Japanese  and  Chinese  Buddhism  the  two 
ways  known  as  the  Gradual  Way  and  the  Abrupt  Way.  These 
two  ways  are  really  subdivisions  of  each  of  the  two  great 
ways  mentioned  above ;  namely,  the  Way  of  Self-reliance 
and  the  Way  of  Reliance  on  the  Strength  of  Another.  That 
is,  the  goal  in  either  of  these  two  ways  may  be  reached 
either  Gradually  or  Abruptly. 

To  reach  the  goal  gradually  in  the  Way  of  Self-reliance  is 
called  Lengthwise-going-out  (Jap.  Shu-shutsu).  That  is, 
the  way  of  deliverance  from  the  Three  Worlds  is  the  long 
route  of  the  path  of  self-discipline  extending  through  many 
incarnations  until,  after  grades  upon  grades  of  existence 
have  been  passed,  the  final  goal  is  reached  at  last.  The  old 
Sanron  and  Hosso  sects  taught  this  gradual  way. 

To  reach  the  goal  abruptly  in  the  Way  of  Self-reliance  is 
called  Lengthwise-passing-over  (Jap.  Shu-cho).  That  is, 
the  long  way  which  leads  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  stages 
of  existence  is  passed  over  rapidly.  It  is  not  necessary  to  go 
through  many  rebirths  and  so  ascend  gradually  in  the  scale 
of  beings,  but  the  believer,  having  as  it  were  the  right  pass- 
word or  the  key  of  wisdom  which  unlocks  all  doors,  can  pass 
through  gate  after  gate  in  rapid  succession  and  reach  the 
highest  goal  speedily.  The  nature  of  this  password  or  key 
differs  in  different  sects.  To  some  it  is  a  magic  word  or 
sign.  To  others  it  is  a  knowledge  of  the  mystery  of  all 
being,  a  correct  philosophic  insight.  To  still  others  it  is 
right   conduct,   or   both   correct  knowledge  and   conduct. 


SALVATION  263 

But  whatever  the  key  may  be,  one  who  possesses  it  can 
attain  the  highest  salvation  even  in  this  Ufe.  To  this  group 
belong  such  sects  as  the  Kegon,  Tendai,  Shingon  and  Zen. 

To  reach  the  goal  gradually  in  the  Way  of  Reliance  on  the 
Strength  of  Another  is  called  Crosswise-going-out  (Jap.  Wo- 
shutsu).  That  is,  the  one  who  attains  salvation  by  this 
path  goes  through  the  long  scale  of  beings  which  separates 
him  from  the  final  goal,  by  gradual  stages.  His  final  sal- 
vation is  certain  because  Another  (Amida)  has  prepared  for 
him  his  Western  Paradise ;  but  he  must  pass  through  many 
rebirths  before  he  can  be  born  into  Paradise.  This  differs 
from  the  gradual  way  in  the  Path  of  self-reliance  in  that  the 
goal  and  the  power  to  reach  the  goal  depend  not  upon  the 
believer,  but  upon  Another.  Some  Amidaists  walk  by  this 
way. 

To  reach  the  goal  abruptly  in  the  Way  of  Reliance  on  the 
Strength  of  Another  is  called  Crosswise-passing-over  (Jap. 
Wo-cho).  That  is,  the  believer  passes  freely  over  all  the 
stages  of  existence  which  separate  him  from  his  goal  because 
he  is  carried  by  another's  power.  It  is  not  necessary  to  stop 
along  the  way,  for  Amida  has  cleared  away  all  difficulties. 
This  abrupt  way  differs  from  the  abrupt  way  in  the  Path  of 
Self-reliance  in  that  the  believer  has  nothing  to  do  but  to 
trust  and  believe.  He  need  not  have  the  key  of  knowledge 
nor  the  password  of  mystery  to  allow  him  to  pass  on.  Suf- 
ficient for  him  is  the  hand  of  faith  and  simple  trust  in  Amida ; 
yea,  Amida  carries  him  like  a  ship  across  the  ocean  of  life 
into  his  haven  of  rest  and  peace.  Among  the  Amida  sects 
the  Shin  regards  itself  as  being  the  true  representative  of 
this  way  of  salvation.  All  other  ways  are  regarded  as  pro- 
visional ways.  They  are  not  wrong  ways,  for  just  as  all 
roads  lead  to  Rome,  so  all  ways  of  salvation  lead  finally  to 
Amida's  Paradise,  but  it  is  better  to  go  by  the  short  and 
easy  way  provided  for  sinful  humanity. 

Practically  all  Japanese  sects  would  take  an  equally  liberal 
view  of  the  ways  of  salvation.  Each  sect  will  maintain  that 
its  way  is  the  best  way,  but  would  not  insist  that  it  is  the 
only  way.     Buddhism  is  usually  very  charitable  towards  the 


264  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

teachings  of  others,  for  it  teaches  that  all  rivers  finally  flow 
into  the  ocean.  However  dirty,  or  crooked,  or  sluggish  the 
stream  may  be,  it  reaches  the  ocean  at  last  and  in  its  depths 
all  waters  are  purified. 

H.    Things  to  Come 

In  the  Buddhist  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  we  have 
in  part  the  answer  as  to  what  Buddhism  teaches  about  the 
Things  to  Come.  Not  only  is  all  mankind  ultimately  to 
be  saved,  but  everything  that  lives  is  to  be  delivered  from  the 
bondages  of  individual  existence  into  the  bliss  of  the  All- 
One.  But  when  shall  this  consummation  be  reached,  and 
what  shall  be  the  intermediary  process? 

To  begin  with,  for  ages  to  come  life  will  go  on  very  much 
as  it  is.  The  great  majority  of  beings  shall  be  born  again 
and  again  into  the  Six  Ways,  i.e.  they  shall  be  born  as 
human  beings,  or  into  the  realm  of  heavenly  beings  (not  the 
Buddhist  heaven) ,  if  their  good  Karma  outweighs  their  evil 
Karma ;  but  if  the  evil  outweighs  the  good,  then  their  birth 
will  be  in  the  lower  realms ;  namely  Fighting  and  Bloodshed, 
the  Realm  of  Beasts,  Hungry  Spirits,  or  Hell.  From  this 
dread  cycle  of  the  Six  Ways  it  is  hard  to  escape  and,  if  meas- 
ured by  human  life,  this  condition  of  things  seems  almost  a 
permanent  one.  "A  blind  turtle  and  a  floating  tree  are 
more  likely  to  meet  and  see  each  other  than  ignorant  and 
stupid  humanity  is  to  obtain  the  body  of  a  man."  And  if 
the  chances  for  man  are  so  meager,  then  what  must  be  the 
chances  of  beings  lower  in  the  scale  of  existence  !  Obviously 
the  situation  looks  rather  gloomy  in  spite  of  the  hope  of  a 
universal  salvation. 

But  the  Buddhist  speculative  thinker  is  not  daunted  by 
time.  In  fact,  he  loves  to  dwell  upon  the  endlessness  of 
time  and  express  this  in  finite  terms.  Thus  while  the  present 
state  of  affairs  may  seem  to  be  an  endless  state,  it  will  some 
day  be  followed  by  another  situation.  First  there  is  to 
come  a  golden  age  for  humanity  when  there  shall  appear 
the  Buddha  of  the  Future,  the  Buddha  Maitreya  (Jap. 
Miroku).     When  he  shall  appear  then  life  will  be  long  and 


THINGS  TO  COME  265 

pleasant,  and  many  shall  there  be  who  will  hear  the  gospel 
of  Buddha  and  enter  from  this  world  of  evil  into  the  bliss 
of  Buddhahood. 

And  when  shall  that  be? 

To  this  there  have  been  several  answers.  Some  have  held 
that  Maitreya  has  already  appeared,  and  that  the  rise  of 
Mahayana  Buddhism  marked  the  beginning  of  this  glorious 
age.  The  great  Nichiren  held  that  he  was  the  herald  of  that 
golden  age,  and  that  the  darkness  of  the  age  into  which  he 
was  born  was  to  be  followed  by  the  dawn.  But  by  most 
thinkers  this  golden  age  is  placed  in  the  distant  future. 

In  the  section  on  the  Buddhist  cosmology  we  spoke  of  the 
four  stages  through  which  the  universe  is  said  to  pass ;  namely, 
the  stages  of  Completion,  Inhabitation,  Destruction  and 
Voidness.  The  universe  is  now  in  the  state  of  Inhabitation. 
Now  the  length  of  each  stage  is  said  to  be  twenty  Decreas- 
ing-increasing  ^ons.  These  aeons  are  called  thus  because 
in  each  seon  life  is  very  long  at  the  beginning  and  gradually 
decreases  until  the  life  of  man  is  only  ten  years  long.  Then 
it  begins  to  lengthen  very  gradually,  until  finally  human  life 
is  84,000  years  in  duration.  The  actual  length  of  such  an 
aeon  can,  therefore,  not  be  expressed  in  years  for  the  rate  of 
change  is  not  known.  We  are,  however,  told  that  when 
Maitreya  will  appear  human  life  shall  be  80,000  years  in 
length,  and  this  shall  be  5,670,000,000  years  after  the  day 
of  S'akyamuni  who  lived  about  2500  years  ago.  Maitreya 
is  thus  to  appear  before  the  end  of  the  present  seon,  i.e. 
when  life  is  only  80,000  years  in  duration  and  not  yet  84,000 
years  as  it  is  to  be  at  the  end  of  this  present  seon. 

When  Maitreya  shall  appear  with  a  body  320  feet  in 
height  (this  is  indicative  of  what  will  be  the  size  of  the 
human  body  in  that  age),  then  shall  the  trees  on  the  earth 
be  like  golden  dragons  with  flowers  shaped  like  dragons,  and 
in  the  midst  of  this  splendor  he  shall  proclaim  the  sacred 
Law  three  times.  The  first  time  he  proclaims  the  Law  there 
shall  be  9,600,000,000  human  beings  who  shall  hear  the 
Law  and  so  enter  the  first  stage  of  enlightenment,  becoming 
Arakans,  and  360,000  heavenly  beings  who  shall  hear  the 


266  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

law  and  so  enter  the  perfect  enlightenment  of  the  Bod- 
hisattva.  The  second  time  the  Law  is  proclaimed  there 
shall  be  9,400,000,000  human  beings  attaining  the  Arakan 
stage  and  6,400,000,000  angelic  beings  attaining  perfect 
enlightenment.  The  third  time  there  shall  be  respectively 
9,200,000,000  and  3,400,000,000  attaining  the  higher  life. 
From  this  it  may  be  seen  what  a  glorious  age  that  will  be. 
Truly  it  will  be  a  day  when  the  knowledge  of  the  sacred 
Law  shall  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

This  is,  however,  not  the  consummation  of  all  things ;  it 
is  only  the  consummation  of  one  Decreasing-increasing  ^on. 
It  is  the  tenth  such  seon  in  the  stage  of  Inhabitation  which  is 
the  second  of  the  four  stages  through  which  the  universe  is 
said  to  pass.  This  tenth  aeon  is  therefore  to  be  followed 
by  ten  more  aeons  of  equal  length  before  the  stage  of  In- 
habitation shall  come  to  an  end.  During  each  of  these  aeons 
to  come  there  shall  be  Buddhas  to  proclaim  the  sacred  Law, 
just  as  before  Maitreya  and  S'akyamuni  there  were  many 
Buddhas. 

Now  when  the  second  great  stage  has  come  to  an  end 
then  the  universe  will  pass  into  the  third  stage,  the  stage  of 
Destruction.  In  this  stage  there  will  be  no  living  beings 
but  all  things  will  gradually  be  dissolved  and  then  the  uni- 
verse will  reach  its  fourth  stage.  The  fourth  stage  is  the 
great  Void.  In  this  stage  all  individual  beings,  whether 
material  or  spiritual,  shall  have  returned  into  the  void  from 
which  they  originally  came.  In  this  void  there  shall  be 
neither  being  nor  non-being,  neither  truth  nor  error,  for  all 
things  shall  have  become  a  Oneness  which  transcends  all  our 
dualistic  categories. 

But  we  have  not  yet  reached  the  end  of  all  things ;  it  is 
only  the  end  of  the  first  chapter.  After  all  things  have 
passed  into  the  great  Void  and  have  remained  there  through 
twenty  Decreasing-increasing  ^Eons  then  shall  the  second 
chapter  begin.  That  is,  the  universe  will  again  enter  the 
first  of  the  four  stages  and  this  will  be  followed  by  the  second, 
third  and  fourth.  Thus  Completion,  Inhabitation,  Destruc- 
tion and  Voidness  shall  follow  each  other  in  endless  succes- 


THINGS  TO  COME  267 

sion.  The  ocean  of  eternal  Oneness  shall  again  break  up 
into  the  waves  of  individuation  through  the  wind  of  ig- 
norance which  somehow  or  other  begins  to  blow  over  the 
surface  of  the  great  Calm.  With  the  appearance  of  the 
Many  from  the  womb  of  the  One  shall  come  again  all  the 
anguish  and  suffering  inherent  in  individual  existence. 
Among  these  individual  beings  there  shall  arise  again  those 
who  will  attain  perfect  enlightenment,  and  who  will  show 
others  how  to  return  to  the  All  from  which  they  came. 
Beyond  this  Buddhist  speculation  does  not  feel  called  upon 
to  go.  And  we,  too,  will  stop  at  this  point  with  this  chapter, 
only  reminding  the  reader  once  more  that  all  that  has  been 
said  by  way  of  explaining  Buddhist  doctrines  belongs  to  the 
realm  of  Accommodated  Truth,  and  not  Absolute  Truth, 
and  therefore  must  not  be  taken  too  literally  or  seriously. 


CHAPTER  VI 
Buddhist  Ethics 

A.   General  Aspects 

To  discuss  the  ethics  of  Buddhism  in  a  separate  chapter 
may  at  first  sight  seem  rather  arbitrary,  for  the  ethics  of  a 
rehgion  would  seem  most  naturally  to  belong  to  the  very  core 
of  the  religious  life  flowing  from  the  fundamental  doctrines. 
If  we  were  dealing  simply  with  primitive  Buddhism,  or  with 
only  certain  phases  of  Mahayana  Buddhism  such  a  separation 
as  we  are  making  would  be  impossible,  but  as  we  are  dis- 
cussing primarily  Japanese  Buddhism  the  treatment  is  not 
only  justifiable  but  essential,  for  in  a  peculiar  way  religion 
and  ethics  seem  strangely  divorced  in  this  land. 

The  history  of  religion  in  all  lands  shows  tendencies  to 
divorce  the  ethical  elements  from  the  purely  religious.  There 
are  various  forms  which  this  separation  has  taken,  but  three 
general  types  seem  rather  universal.  Thus  we  have  in  the 
first  place  systems  which  may  be  regarded  as  ethical  systems 
but  which  have  no  real  religious  basis.  Confucianism  and 
primitive  Buddhism  are  the  best  examples  of  this  type.  In 
the  second  place  there  are  systems  which  may  be  said  to  be 
truly  religious  systems  but  which  have  no  vital  ethics,  i.e. 
they  are  ethic-less  religions.  ]\Iany  of  the  animistic  and 
polytheistic  systems  show  this  characteristic.  Not,  of 
course,  that  these  are  altogether  without  the  ethical  element, 
but  that  this  is  very  insignificant.  And  in  the  third  place, 
there  are  systems  in  which  the  religious  elements  and  the 
distinctively  ethical  elements  exist  side  by  side  without 
there  being  always  a  vital  connection  between  the  two,  or 
even  with  a  fundamental  antagonism  between  the  two ;  so 

268 


BUDDHIST  ETHICS  269 

that  the  ethical  principles  do  not  only  fail  to  flow  from  the 
religious  doctrines  but  are  more  or  less  in  direct  opposition 
to  them.  This  type  finds  its  best  representative  in  Buddhism 
taken  as  a  whole. 

Even  in  the  history  of  Christianity  do  we  find  evidence 
of  these  strange  tendencies  to  separate  the  fundamental 
religious  doctrines  from  the  ethical  principles,  or  at  least  to 
neglect  one  or  the  other  aspect.  Thus  we  have  had  periods 
when  great  emphasis  was  placed  on  certain  fundamental 
doctrines  without  a  corresponding  emphasis  on  practical 
Christian  ethics.  And  again  there  have  been  periods  — 
and  the  present  is  such  a  one  —  when  the  emphasis  was  laid 
exclusively  upon  Christian  ethics  and  the  theology  under- 
lying it  was  regarded  as  suited  only  for  a  few  impractical 
theologians.  And  in  the  third  place,  we  see  the  spectacle 
of  professing  Christians  being  perfectly  "  orthodox  "  and 
scrupulously  careful  as  to  ritual  and  ceremony  but  re- 
garding the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  as  a  beautiful  but  im- 
practical ideal. 

But  while  the  West  is  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  various 
tendencies  to  separate  religion  and  ethics,  it  is  in  the  Orient 
that  we  most  commonlv  find  the  divorce  of  the  two,  and  of  all 
religions  of  the  world  no  system  shows  the  three  types  of 
separation  mentioned  above  more  markedly  than  does  Bud- 
dhism in  its  various  phases. 

Primitive  Buddhism,  as  we  have  said,  shows  the  first  type 
of  separation ;  namely,  the  type  which  divorces  religion  from 
ethics  by  practically  eliminating  what  to  a  Western  mind,  at 
least,  would  seem  indispensable  elements  of  religion.  So 
much  is  this  the  case  that  some  scholars  have  hesitated  to 
call  Gautama's  system  a  religion  at  all,  though  later  Buddhism 
no  one  would  refuse  to  recognize  as  such.  Of  course,  it  is 
possible  to  use  the  term  religion  in  such  a  broad  sense  that 
any  attitude  towards  life  may  be  called  religious.  Thus  a 
Comte,  after  discarding  religion  as  a  phenomenon  belonging 
to  the  primitive  mind,  advocates  his  own  anti-religious  system 
as  the  Religion  of  Humanity.  Or  again,  we  have  in  our  own 
day  materialists  and  atheists  speaking  of  the  Religion  of 


270  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Science.  In  this  broad  sense  Gautama's  system  was  cer- 
tainly a  religion,  and  had  even  a  better  right  to  the  title 
than  these,  for  it  had  at  least  one  of  the  cardinal  elements  of 
religion  in  that  it  had  a  doctrine  of  redemption.  But  if 
religion  is  essentially  "  a  quest  for  the  enrichment  of  life  by 
establishing  vital  relationships  with  superhuman  powers  or 
persons  (power  or  person),"  then  Gautama's  system,  with 
its  indifference,  if  not  opposition,  to  the  God-idea,  can  hardly 
be  called  a  real  religion.  Of  course,  as  soon  as  Gautama 
himself  was  lifted  into  the  place  of  a  superhuman  being,  as 
happened  rather  early  in  Buddhist  history,  the  essential 
elements  of  religion  were  present.  But  the  system  which 
he  himself  proclaimed  may  be  said  to  be  a  practical  ethical 
system  which  above  everything  else  sought  to  make  man  in- 
dependent of  the  gods  and  dependent  solely  upon  himself. 
The  Buddha  did  not  seek  to  show  men  the  vital  relationships 
which  may  be  established  between  them  and  the  divine,  but 
he  wanted  them  to  see  the  vital  relationship  which  their 
present  state  sustains  to  their  past  deeds  and  which  their 
present  deeds  will  sustain  to  their  future  state. 

But  wdiile  primitive  Buddhism  was  primarily  a  practical 
system  of  ethics  growing  out  of  a  certain  view  of  life ;  namely, 
the  view  of  life  summed  up  in  the  Four  Noble  Truths,  we  have 
even  here  a  divorcement  between  this  philosophy  of  life  and 
some  of  the  practical  ethical  teachings.  The  ethical  teach- 
ings w^hich  have  as  their  object  the  cutting  of  all  the  bonds 
which  bind  man  to  this  life  flow  naturally  from  the  view  of 
life  expressed  in  the  Four  Great  Truths,  but  when  ethical 
ideals  center  around  the  thought  of  self-discipline  and  self- 
culture,  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile  them  with  the  doctrine  of 
the  non-reality  of  the  self  so  important  in  primitive  Bud- 
dhism. In  short,  then,  many  of  the  ethical  principles  even 
in  primitive  Buddhism  were  based  upon  what  India  had  found 
to  be  practical  for  a  moral  life,  but  which  in  reality  failed  to 
grow  out  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Gautama's  view 
of  life  and  which  were  even  in  flat  contradiction  to  it. 

As  we  saw  in  Chapters  I  and  II,  it  was  not  long  before  the 
fundamentals  of  religion  which  Gautama  had  practically 


BUDDHIST  ETHICS  271 

ignored,  found  their  way  into  Buddhism  and  so  for  the  first 
time  made  it  truly  a  religion  in  the  generally  accepted  sense 
of  the  term.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  movement  to- 
wards a  real  religion  was  accompanied  by  a  movement  which 
led  away  from  the  rather  lofty  ethical  plain  on  which  Gau- 
tama lived.  It  may  almost  be  said  that  Buddhism  developed 
from  a  religion-less  ethic  into  an  ethic-less  religion.  This 
may  be  stating  the  case  too  strongly,  but  it  is  certainly  true 
that  in  spite  of  the  change  from  the  Arhat  ideal  to  the  more 
altruistic  Bodhisattva  ideal,  the  growing  popularity  of  the 
old  Indian  deities  and  the  deities  absorbed  by  Buddhism  as  it 
marched  triumphantly  northward,  somehow  overshadowed 
the  ethics  of  the  Middle  Path.  That  which  Gautama  had 
made  central  was  relegated  to  a  secondary  place,  and  that 
which  he  had  ignored  or  opposed  as  superstition  was  made 
central  in  the  religious  life  of  the  average  adherent.  And 
thus  it  has  remained  down  to  the  present  day.  So  much 
is  this  the  case  in  Japan  that  especially  during  the  Meiji 
era  religion  was  regarded  as  superstition  and  the  real  enemy 
of  rational  conduct. 

It  is  true  that,  as  intimated  above,  there  was  a  nobler  side 
to  this  development  in  Buddhism  of  the  religious  element 
which  also  brought  with  it  lofty  ethical  ideals.  Thus  the 
self-centered  ethics  of  the  Arhat  was  augmented  by  the 
altruistic  ethics  of  the  Bodhisattva.  The  goal  of  ethical 
conduct  was  no  longer  so  much  the  breaking  of  the  bonds  of 
existence,  but  rather  the  development  of  the  self  into  the 
higher  self.  The  Buddha  was  regarded  as  having  had 
many  incarnations,  and  as  having  finally  prepared  for  man  a 
way  to  this  perfection.  It  became  the  ideal  of  some  Bud- 
dhists to  attain  unto  this  perfection  of  character  and  to  help 
others  attain.  That  is,  the  ideal  for  self-discipline  and  self- 
culture  and  the  desire  to  help  others  was  an  ethical  ideal  con- 
sistently flowing  from  the  fundamental  religious  doctrines 
of  later  Buddhism.  But  when  this  later  Buddhism  sought 
at  the  same  time  to  perpetuate  the  ethics  of  primitive  Bud- 
dhism based  upon  a  view  of  life  which  practically  denied  the 
reality  of  the  self,  we  have  again  an  example  of  ethical  prin- 


272  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

ciples  divorced  from,  and  antagonistic  to,  the  religious  doc- 
trines. This,  however,  is  really  an  example  of  the  third  type 
of  separation  mentioned  above;  namely,  the  existence  of 
religious  and  ethical  elements  side  by  side  without  there 
being  a  vital  connection  between  the  two. 

But  a  better  example  of  the  third  type  is  seen  in  Japanese 
Buddhism  where  we  find  various  religious  and  ethical  ele- 
ments taken  from  widely  separated  sources  existing  side  by 
side  without  there  being  a  vital  connection.  It  is  this  which 
accounts  for  the  strange  spectacle  in  the  present  educational 
system  of  the  land  which  makes  moral  training  the  first  sub- 
ject in  the  curriculum  and  excludes  religion  not  only  from 
the  course,  but  in  many  cases  from  the  very  school  grounds. 
We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  are  no  ethical  principles  in 
Japanese  Buddhism  growing  out  of  the  fundamental  philo- 
sophic doctrines,  but  that  there  are  many  which  came  from 
systems  quite  alien  to  Buddhism,  and  even  antagonistic 
to  its  fundamental  doctrines.  Thus  it  is  a  common-place 
to  say  that,  perhaps,  the  most  vital  elements  in  the  practical 
ethics  of  Japanese  Buddhism  are  taken  from  Confucianism, 
and  it  is  an  open  secret  that  some  of  the  progressive  priests 
are  not  averse  to  vitalizing  their  moral  instruction  by  an 
infusion  from  the  ethics  of  Jesus.  One  frequently  hears  it 
said  that  as  a  philosophy  Buddhism  is  more  profound  than 
Christianity,  though  the  latter  may  be  superior  in  its  practi- 
cal ethics.  All  of  which  goes  to  show  how  real  is  the  divorce- 
ment of  religion  and  ethics  even  in  the  minds  of  religious 
leaders.  At  anv  rate  must  it  be  admitted  that  thev  would 
regard  the  practical  ethics  of  every-day  life  as  belonging  to 
the  realm  of  Accommodated  Truth,  and  therefore  being 
purely  relative. 

Since  Japanese  Buddhism  contains  such  a  complex  of 
philosophic  doctrines  and  its  ethical  teachings  are  based 
only  in  part  upon  this  complex  and  in  part  are  taken  from 
other  sources,  it  becomes  practically  impossible  to  give  a 
systematic  presentation  of  the  subject  in  hand.  Even  the 
barest  outline  of  Buddhist  ethics  leads  one  to  flatly  contra- 
dictory positions,  so  that  even  a  writer  like  Professor  Anezaki 


BUDDHIST  ETHICS  273 

has  to  say  that  "the  moral  and  intellectual  perfection  of  a 
personality,  in  spite  of  the  doctrine  of  the  non-ego,  is  the 
highest  aim  of  Buddhist  morality."  How  is  it  possible  to 
say  that  "moral  and  intellectual  perfection  of  personality" 
is  the  highest  aim  of  a  system  when  personality  itself  is 
said  to  have  no  real  existence?  It  is  possible  only  by 
admitting,  as  Professor  Anezaki  does  admit,  a  flat  contra- 
diction between  Buddhist  ethics  and  one  of  its  fundamental 
doctrines.  The  reader  will,  therefore,  forgive  us  if  in  what 
follows,  things  do  not  always  hang  together,  or  if  they  appear 
contradictory. 

To  the  extent  to  which  Buddhist  ethics  is  grounded  in 
Buddhist  doctrines,  we  might  say  that  it  has  its  basis  and 
aim  in  the  philosophy  of  the  good.  What  is  meant  by  "the 
Good"  we  have  already  discussed  in  the  previous  chapter 
under  the  head  of  the  essence  of  salvation,  and  in  what  was 
said  there  about  the  essence  of  true  enlightenment.  All 
moral  principles  have  as  their  criterion  the  essence  of  en- 
lightenment ;  and  since  enlightemnent  is  a  matter  of  degrees, 
it  follows  that  ethical  principles  are  also  matters  of  degree. 
There  is  no  categorical  right  and  wrong,  but  right  and  wrong 
are  purely  relative.  The  good  varies  with  the  true,  and  the 
true  changes  with  the  point  of  view,  so  that  what  is  true  and 
good  for  one  being  is  not  necessarily  so  for  another.  In  the 
long  scale  of  beings^  into  which  Buddhism  divides  the  world 
of  phenomena,  each  being  has  its  own  laws  and  may  appropri- 
ate the  true  and  the  good  in  its  own  way.  Thus  the  standard 
of  ethics  is  necessarily  varied  and  relative.  There  is  one 
standard  only  in  the  sense  that  all  beings  have  the  capacity 
for  attaining  Buddhahood,  and  will  attain  this  if  they  obey 
the  varying  ethical  principles  as  they  advance  from  stage 
to  stage. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  preceding  chapter  we  gave,  as  the 
complete  summary  of  all  Buddhist  teachings,  the  pregnant 
sentence,  "Tenmei  kaigo,  Riku  tokuraku,  Shiaku  shuzen," 
the  last  phrase  of  which  presents  the  ethical  side  of  the 
system  ;  namely,  "  Ceasing  from  evil  and  doing  good."  When 
this  thought  is  put  by  itself  it  reads,  "Not  to  commit  any 

T 


274  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

sin  (evil),  to  do  good,  and  to  purify  one's  own  mind;  this  is 
the  teaching  of  all  the  Buddhas."  To  this  general  way  of 
stating  the  core  of  all  Buddhist  ethics  all  Buddhists  would 
agree,  and  even  a  Christian  would  have  no  objection  to  ex- 
pressing his  ethical  ideal  in  such  terms.  But  when  it  comes 
to  defining  more  specifically  what  is  meant  by  "sin"  which 
is  not  to  be  committed,  and  the  "good"  which  is  to  be  done, 
then,  of  course,  the  differences  begin  to  appear. 

Roughly  speaking,  Buddhist  ethics  may  be  divided  into 
two  great  types ;  namely,  the  older  Hinayana  type  and  the 
later  Mahayana  type.  The  two  have  very  much  in  common 
in  the  ethical  principles  which  pertain  to  man  as  a  citizen  of 
this  world,  but  in  so  far  as  they  pertain  to  man  as  a  candidate 
for  salvation  out  of  this  world  the  older  type  may  be  said 
to  be  less  altruistic  ^  than  the  later  Mahayana  ideal.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  Hinayana  ideal  of  salvation  was  the 
Arhat,  and  the  Arhat  was  above  all  else  interested  in  his 
own  salvation.  He  walked  in  the  path  of  righteousness  for 
his  own  sake ;  not  so  much  for  the  positive  good  which  he 
sought  to  achieve  as  for  the  sake  of  escaping  from  a  positive 
evil.  He  perfected  his  personality  in  order  to  destroy  the 
conditions  of  individuahty  and  personality. 

The  hindrance  to  this  goal  of  the  ethical  ideal  of  Hina- 
yana Buddhism  lies  not  so  much  in  man's  will  as  in  man's 
mind.  In  order  to  overcome  the  obstacles  in  the  path  of 
righteousness  the  mind  must  be  enlightened  with  the  truth. 
This  necessary  truth  is  above  all  else  the  truth  above  the 
nature  of  existence,  i.e.  the  nature  of  human  life  and  the 
causes  which  have  brought  about  man's  present  condition. 
Thus  the  beginning  of  all  ethical  conduct  is  correct  knowl- 
edge. This  knowledge  is  formulated  first  of  all  in  the  Four  / 
Noble  Truths  and  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path,  and  then  in  ^ 
the  various  moral  maxims  suited  for  practical  life.  To  be 
sure,  the  mere  knowledge  of  the  truth  does  not  bring  de- 
liverance; man  must  walk  by  the  knowledge  he  has 
received,  for  it  is  only  in  the  union  of  theoretical  knowl- 
edge and  practical  application  of  it  to  life  that  deliver- 
ance is  found. 


BUDDHIST  ETHICS  275 

But  what  is  it  that  gives  man  the  motive  power  to  walk 
in  the  way  of  truth  as  it  is  presented  to  the  mind  ? 

It  is  the  truth  itself  which  gives  this  motive  power,  for  truth 
expels  ignorance,  and  ignorance  is  the  core  of  all  sin.  Hence 
to  know  the  truth  is  to  be  free  from  sin  and  to  do  the  good. 

It  is  a  question  whether  this  is  good  psychology,  and 
whether  Buddhism  does  not  give  too  much  prominence  to  the 
intellectual  aspect  of  the  human  personality  and  not  enough 
to  the  aspect  we  call  the  Will.  Of  course,  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth  is  necessary  as  a  step  toward  freedom  from  sin, 
but  it  does  not  always  follow  that  to  know  the  truth  is  to 
obey  it.  After  all,  there  is  that  mysterious  aspect  of  our 
personality  called  the  Will  which  enables  a  man  to  choose 
as  to  whether  he  will  obey  the  truth  as  he  sees  it,  or  not.  It 
is  true,  as  Buddhism  says,  that  man  is  in  ignorance  and  that 
ignorance  is  a  source  of  sin,  but  sin  is  more  than  mere  igno- 
rance. It  is  not  merely  an  intellectual  mistake,  but  rather 
a  rebellion  of  the  will.  In  short,  man  is  not  simply  a  mind, 
but  a  personality.  Personality  has  as  its  core  the  Will 
aspect  as  truly  as  the  intellectual,  and  consequently  abstract 
truth  does  not  make  a  sufficiently  strong  appeal  to  enable 
man  to  forsake  sin  and  do  good,  but  the  appeal  must  be  made 
by  a  perfect  personality.  And  here  is  exactly  where  the 
ethics  of  primitive  Buddhism  must  inevitably  break  down. 
It  can  never  consistently  present  the  ethical  appeal  in  the 
truth  of  a  perfect  personality,  for  it  denies  that  personality 
is  a  permanent  reality.  It  can  therefore  never  have  the 
drive  of  Christian  ethics  which  is  grounded  in  the  perfect 
personality  of  God  expressed  in  human  terms  in  the  historic 
perfect  personality  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  can  never  say  to 
man  "Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  The  best  it  can  say  is,  "Be  ye 
perfect  as  S'akyamuni  was  perfect  in  order  that  ye  may  escape 
from  the  evils  of  life."  The  appeal  which  this  older  ethic 
makes  is  therefore  more  of  an  appeal  of  man's  sense  of  fear. 
It  is,  "be  good  lest  you  suffer  the  consequences."  This 
was  a  powerful  appeal  to  a  world-weary  civilization,  but  it 
can  never  be  as  powerful  as  the  appeal  to  a  man's  higher 


276  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

self  which  finds  its  ground  in  the  thought  that  the  universe 
has  as  its  source  the  eternal  Personal  God  and  has  as  its  goal 
the  achievement  of  perfected  personalities  after  the  likeness 
of  Christ  Jesus.  It  is  not  strange  therefore  that  even  Bud- 
dhists admit  that  Christian  ethics  have  a  greater  vitality  and 
make  a  stronger  appeal  to  the  heart  of  man  than  Buddhism. 

Now,  the  newer  ethic  of  Mahayana  Buddhism  has  a  more 
positive  goal  than  the  older  and  it  is  also  more  altruistic 
in  its  tone.  That  is,  it  not  only  leads  away  from  a  positive 
evil  but  also  to  a  positive  good,  and  the  good  is  both  for  the 
self  and  others.  Its  ideal  is  the  Bodhisattva,  and  he  is  one 
who  achieves  perfection  for  himself,  but  refuses  to  enjoy  the 
fruit  of  his  labors  to  the  full  until  he  has  helped  others  achieve 
the  same  benefit.  In  fact,  the  Bodhisattva  is  one  who  might 
say  of  himself,  "  For  their  sakes  I  sanctify  myself,  that  they 
also  might  be  sanctified  through  the  truth."  This  type  of 
ethic  therefore  makes  a  stronger  appeal  than  the  older  type 
in  that  it  directs  itself  to  the  higher  self  in  man  and  centers 
more  on  what  good  he  may  achieve  rather  than  on  what  evil 
he  is  to  escape.  The  Mahayana  ethic  has,  however,  some 
of  the  weakness  of  the  Hinayana  in  that  it,  too,  makes  the 
intellectual  aspect  of  human  nature  central  and  does  not 
give  due  recognition  to  the  Will.  Sin  is  also  in  this  system 
primarily  a  matter  of  mere  ignorance,  and  not  the  perversion 
of  the  entire  personality.  And  further,  while  this  ethic  makes 
an  appeal  to  the  higher  self,  the  philosophy  on  which  it  rests, 
after  all,  denies  that  personality  is  really  permanent.  The 
Bodhisattva  may  be  personal  as  long  as  he  chooses  to  be  a 
Bodhisattva,  but  when  he  enters  into  the  full  Buddhahood 
he  disappears  as  personal.  And  so  it  comes  about  that 
though  the  highest  aim  of  Mahayana  ethics  may  be  "the 
moral  and  intellectual  perfection  of  the  personality,"  this  end 
when  achieved  is  really  not  permanent,  but  only  a  stepping 
into  that  which  is  neither  personal  nor  impersonal.  One  might 
wonder  why  one  should  strive  to  achieve  a  perfect  personality 
if  the  real  goal  is  as  truly  the  impersonal  as  the  personal. 

Approaching  the  subject  of  Buddhist  ethics  from  the 
ecclesiastical  standpoint,  we  may  say  that  it  again  divides 


BUDDHIST  ETHICS  277 

itself  into  two  main  branches ;  namely,  the  ethics  for  the  lay- 
man and  the  ethics  for  the  monk  and  priest.  There  is 
usually  a  double  standard,  that  for  the  monk  being  higher 
than  that  for  the  layman  and  including  it.  Thus  e.g.  in 
the  older  Buddhist  Ten  Commandments  the  first  five  only 
are  for  the  layman  while  the  monk  must  observe  the  entire 
ten.  In  fact  this  is  one  of  the  outstanding  characteristics 
of  Buddhism  —  not  only  of  its  ethical  teachings,  but  of  all  its 
teachings  —  that  there  is  such  a  wide  chasm  between  the  lay- 
man and  the  priest.  Not  that  the  priest  is  actually  so 
superior  in  holiness  and  learning  to  the  layman,  but  that 
theoretically  he  is  so.  The  lay  Buddhist  is  supposed  to  go 
on  in  his  life  very  much  as  he  did  before  he  became  a  Bud- 
dhist ;  practically  nothing  is  required  of  him.  But  the  monk 
and  priest  are  expected  to  leave  behind,  not  only  the  evil 
ways  of  this  world,  but  also  much  of  what  is  normal  and 
good  in  human  life.  The  very  expression  in  Japanese  for 
entering  the  monk's  life  indicates  his  break  with  the  normal 
life.  He  is  said  to  "forsake  home"  and  to  "ascend  the 
mountain."  (Most  monasteries  are  in  the  mountains  far 
removed  from  the  world  of  men.)  The  monk  alone  is  sup- 
posed to  read  and  know  the  sacred  scriptures,  and  with  his 
advance  in  knowledge  is  supposed  to  come  an  advance  in 
holiness.  Only  the  Shin  Sect  has  sought  to  spread  "house- 
hold religion,"  but  even  here  the  sect  has  not  at  all  kept 
true  to  the  high  ideal  of  its  founder.  The  writer  is,  of  course, 
familiar  with  the  fact  that  in  Christianity,  and  in  practically 
every  religion,  there  have  been  these  wide  gaps  between  the 
lajTiian's  religion  and  the  professional  religionist's  religion, 
but  there  is  at  least  in  Protestant  Christianity  an  attempt  to 
make  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea,  and  to  set  up  but  one  standard  of  conduct 
for  layman  and  clergy;  namely,  the  standard  of  perfect 
manhood  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ. 

B.    The  Vices  and  Virtues 

We  must  now  leave  the  general  characteristics  of  Buddhist 
ethics  and  come  more  specifically  to  the  ethical  teaching  and 


278  STUDIES    IN   JAPANESE    BUDDHISM 

moral  maxims  themselves.  These  will  be  seen  to  fall  into 
two  great  groups ;  namely,  teachings  concerning  the  vices  of 
life  and  teachings  concerning  the  virtues  of  life.  The  con- 
trast between  ignorance  and  enlightenment  which  Buddhism 
makes  in  its  fundamental  doctrines  is  carried  out  in  its  ethical 
teachings  by  the  contrast  between  the  vices  and  virtues, 
for  ignorance  may  be  said  to  be  the  cardinal  vice  and  wisdom 
the  cardinal  virtue.  Buddhists  are  exceedingly  fond,  not 
only  of  classifying  all  ethical  teachings  under  these  two  main 
heads,  but  of  making  lists  upon  lists  of  the  various  major 
and  minor  vices  and  virtues.  This  is  often  done  in  a  rather 
mechanical  way,  and  particularly  do  the  methods  of  incul- 
cating these  ethical  teachings  frequently  degenerate  into  a 
mere  mechanical  process  which  kills  the  real  spirit  of  the 
teaching. 

1.  The  Vices  of  Life.  —  The  cardinal  vice  is  the  vice  of 
egoism  grounded  in  ignorance ;  or  to  put  it  the  other  way 
around,  it  is  ignorance  expressing  itself  in  egoism.  Egoism 
whose  taproot  is  ignorance  is  the  trunk  from  which  grow  all 
other  vices,  so  that  whatever  may  be  the  specific  vice  under 
consideration,  it  can  always  be  traced  back  to  a  form  of 
egoism,  and  this  always  grows  out  of  ignorance ;  for  in  Bud- 
dhism all  individual  life  is  essentially  nothing  but  the  desire 
of  Ignorance,  or  the  expression  of  an  unconscious  desire  — 
a  blind  "will-to-be." 

This  egoism  manifests  itself  in  three  primary  vices  usually 
spoken  of  as  the  Three  Poisons ;  namely,  Lust,  Anger  and 
Folh".  From  these  three  main  branches  of  the  tree  of  vice 
come  other  smaller  branches,  twigs  and  leaves.  The  classi- 
fications which  follow  below  overlap  and  are  not  always 
logical  divisions.  Thus  we  have  a  list  of  the  Five  Vices  of 
Greed,  Seeking  for  Pleasure,  Hatred,  Stupidity  and  In- 
difference. Following  this  may  be  given  the  Five  Lusts  of 
the  Eye,  Ear,  Nose,  Tongue  and  the  Organs  of  Touch. 
The  Five  Hindrances  are :  Sensual  Desire,  Ill-will,  Torpor 
of  Mind  or  Body,  Excitement  and  Vanity  and  Perplexity. 
The  Seven  Fetters  are:  Sensual  Pleasures,  Repugnance, 
Opinion,  Perplexity,  Pride,  Attachment  to  Life  and  Igno- 


BUDDHIST   ETHICS  279 

rance.  These  Fetters  are  divided  and  subdivided  until  there 
are  ten,  sixteen,  hundred  and  eight,  etc.  The  Five  Impuri- 
ties are :  Primary  Impurity  which  gives  rise  to  the  following 
four;  namely.  Impurity  of  Doubt,  Impurity  of  Passion, 
Impurity  which  weakens  the  body  and  Impurity  which 
shortens  life.  The  Five  Crimes  are:  Patricide,  Matricide, 
Killing  a  Saint,  Disturbing  the  Peace  of  the  Monks  and 
Opposing  the  Buddha.  The  Seven  Prides  are :  Pride  to- 
wards Inferiors,  Pride  towards  Equals,  Pride  towards 
Superiors,  Pride  of  Self-confidence,  Pride  of  Pretence,  Pride 
of  thinking  oneself  equal  to  one's  peer  and  Pride  of  boasting 
to  be  able  to  do  what  one  cannot  do. 

But  the  most  widely  known  lists  of  vices  and  the  warning 
against  which  may  be  said  to  form  a  real  vital  part  of  the 
practical  ethical  teachings  of  Japanese  Buddhism  for  all 
classes  of  believers  are  the  Ten  Evils  forbidden  in  the 
Ten  Commandments.  (These  Ten  Commandments  differ 
somewhat  from  the  Ten  Commandments  mentioned  in 
Chapter  I.)  These  Ten  Evils,  or  Sins,  are  :  Killing,  Stealing, 
Committing  Adultery,  Lying,  Exaggerating,  Slandering, 
Being  Double-tongued,  Coveting,  Being  Angry  and  Being 
Heretical.  These  Ten  Sins  are  divided  into  three  groups. 
The  first  group  consists  of  the  first  three  and  these  sins  are 
called  Sins  of  the  Body,  or  Evil  Works.  The  second  group 
is  made  up  of  numbers  four  to  seven,  and  these  are  called 
Sins  of  the  Mouth,  or  Evil  Words.  The  third  group  is 
composed  of  numbers  eight  to  ten  and  these  are  called  Sins 
of  the  Mind,  or  Evil  Desires. 

It  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  many  of  the  vices  and  sins 
given  in  these  various  lists  are  such  as  one  would  expect  to 
find  recognized  by  any  advanced  religion.  And  likewise 
would  most  advanced  systems  of  ethics  agree  with  Buddhism 
that  the  cardinal  vice  is  a  low,  base  egoism  or  selfishness. 
But  when  it  is  held  that  all  sorts  of  egoism,  even  the  egoism 
which  seeks  the  development  of  the  higher  self,  is  a  vice, 
then  Christianity  at  least  must  part  company  with  Buddhist 
ethics.  And  still  further  when  it  is  held  that  all  vice  is 
mere  ignorance  and  all  sin  is  essentially  nothing  more  than  a 


280  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

"big  mistake,"  Christianity  again  must  part  company,  for 
it  must  ever  be  more  accurate  in  its  psychology  and  treat 
sin  as  not  simply  a  matter  of  the  intellectual  aspect  of  the 
human  personality,  but  also  as  a  matter  of  the  will  and  the 
affections;   in  short,  as  a  marring  of  the  entire  personality. 

2.  The  Virtues  of  Life.  —  Let  us  next  consider  very  briefly 
the  virtues  of  life  which  Buddhism  seeks  to  inculcate.  If 
egoism  rooted  in  ignorance  is  the  cardinal  vice,  then  the 
suppression  of  this  egoism  through  knowledge  is  the  cardinal 
virtue.  That  is,  all  virtue  is  rooted  in  right  thinking.  Thus 
Buddhists  regard  mental  discipline  rather  than  a  discipline 
of  the  will  as  a  thing  of  first  importance,  and  among  the  pri- 
mary virtues  methods  of  mental  discipline  occupy  a  promi- 
nent place. 

But  if  the  suppression  of  egoism  is  the  primary  virtue,  a 
question  arises  as  to  whether  this  means  the  suppression  of 
a  lower  egoism  by  the  self-assertion  of  a  higher  and  nobler 
egoism  or  does  it  mean  the  suppression  of  all  egoism  or  self- 
assertion  ?  Or  to  put  it  in  another  form  :  Is  enlightenment 
positive  knowledge  or  simply  a  "breaking  of  error"?  Some 
Buddhists  hold  —  and  it  would  seem  that  to  be  consistent 
with  Buddhist  psycholog}^  a  Buddhist  must  hold  —  that  it 
means  the  latter,  and  that  virtue  is  not  a  positive  goodness 
but  simply  the  absence  of  a  positive  evil.  This  is  why  most 
of  the  teachings  of  Buddhism  are  cast  in  a  negative  mold. 
The  Ten  Commandments  of  Buddhism  are  ten  prohibitions, 
ten  "Don'ts."  Keeping  these  ten  negative  commandments 
constitutes  the  Ten  Virtues  which  the  average  Buddhist  is 
supposed  to  cultivate  just  as  breaking  them  is  to  commit  the 
Ten  Vices  mentioned  above.  The  Ten  Virtues,  then,  are 
the  following:  Not  to  Kill,  Not  to  Steal,  Not  to  Commit 
Adultery,  Not  to  Lie,  Not  to  Exaggerate,  Not  to  Slander,  Not 
to  be  Double-tongued,  Not  to  Covet,  Not  to  be  Angry  and 
Not  to  be  Heretical.  Thus,  as  we  have  said,  at  least  accord- 
ing to  the  form  in  which  these  virtues  are  stated,  they  seem  to 
be  negative  virtues,  or  merely  the  suppression  of  vices. 

But  while  Buddhist  ethics  makes  more  of  the  suppression 
of  vices  than  of  the  inculcation  of  positive  virtues,  there  is. 


BUDDHIST  ETHICS  281 

after  all,  a  good  deal  in  Buddhist  ethics  which  is  built  up  on 
the  conception  that  virtue  is  the  expression  of  the  higher 
and  nobler  ego.  That  is,  not  only  are  the  vices  of  a  low 
egoism  to  be  suppressed,  but  a  higher  self  expresses  itself  in 
this  suppression  and  goes  beyond  this  in  exerting  itself  in 
positive  virtues.  For  example,  man  is  not  only  to  suppress 
his  feeling  of  anger  and  hatred  towards  his  fellow-man,  but 
his  heart  should  go  out  to  him  in  sympathy  and  love.  Even 
in  the  older  Buddhism,  which  made  the  denial  of  the  reality 
of  the  self  a  cardinal  doctrine,  one  finds  ethical  principles 
based  upon  the  conception  that  "the  intellectual  and  moral 
perfection  of  the  personality"  is  the  highest  aim  of  ethics. 
Thus  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path  itself  is  a  path  of  rather 
positive  virtues  and  more  than  a  mere  suppression  of  vices. 

In  enumerating  the  main  positive  virtues  one  must  begin 
with  the  virtues  of  walking  in  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path,  i.e. 
the  virtues  of  Right  Opinion,  Right  Decision,  Right  Speech, 
Right  Action,  Right  Livelihood,  Right  Effort,  Right  Mindful- 
ness and  Right  Contemplation.^ 

When  the  virtues  are  thought  of  in  terms  of  psychological 
faculties,  Buddhists  speak  of  them  as  Organs,  and  of  these 
they  usually  distinguish  five;  namely.  Faith,  Exertion, 
Mindfulness,  Contemplation  and  Wisdom.  Three  of  these 
are  regarded  as  cardinal  virtues  and  are  included  in  every 
list.  These  three  are  Faith,  Exertion  and  Wisdom ;  the 
greatest  of  these  is  Faith  according  to  some,  and  Wisdom 
according  to  others.  Other  virtues  emphasized  in  Buddhist 
ethics  are  the  following :  A  Sense  of  Shame,  Conscientious- 
ness, Clear  Conscience,  Thoughtfulness,  Sympathy,  Gentle- 
ness, Kindness,  Mercy,  Pity  and  Benevolence;  the  latter 
being  divided  into  the  Four  Benevolences  directed  respec- 
tively towards  parents,  people  in  general,  the  ruler,  and 
the  Three  Treasures  {i.e.  Buddha,  the  Law  and  the  Priest- 
hood) , 

Of  these  major  virtues  Buddhism  has  been  especially 
successful  in  inculcating  widely  the  virtues  of  Gentleness, 
Pity  and  Sympathy.  It  is  not  strange  that  this  is  so,  for 
especially  the  vu-tues  of  Pity  and  Sympathy  for  others  grow 


282  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

directly  out  of  the  Buddhist  view  as  to  the  nature  of  human 
life.  Life  is  suffering,  and  sympathy  (suffering  with) 
becomes  a  natural  attitude  of  mind  and  heart.  The  German 
words  "Leid"  and  "Mitleid"  express  the  relationship  in 
a  nutshell.  Bas  Leben  ist  Leid  und  darum  ist  die  hochste 
Tugend  Mitleid.  To  be  sure,  the  Buddhist  conception  of 
Pity  and  Sympathy  lacks  something  of  the  positive  element 
which  we  find  in  the  Christian  conception  of  Love,  for  it 
lacks  the  underlying  conviction  of  the  eternal  value  of  human 
life.  Human  life  seems  very  cheap  in  Buddhist  lands  and 
especially  does  the  life  of  the  masses  seem  but  as  the  foam  on 
a  turbulent  sea.  But  still  Buddhism  has  done  much  to 
promote  the  feeling  of  the  solidarity  of  the  human  race. 
Humanity  is  a  great  brotherhood  of  suffering,  yea,  even  the 
dumb  animals  are  our  fellow-sufferers  and  bound  to  us  by 
the  strong  links  of  the  Karma-chain.  Who  knows  but  that 
the  ox  which  draws  the  driver's  heavy  load  is  the  great  ances- 
tor of  the  driver,  appearing  in  the  form  of  an  ox  in  obedience 
to  the  law  of  Karma.  Shall  not,  then,  the  driver  be  kind 
to  his  beast  ? 

Thus  far  we  have  spoken  of  what  might  be  regarded  as 
rather  ordinary  virtues.  There  are  higher  virtues  which 
are  practiced  by  those  who  are  really  seriously  bent  upon 
attaining  Buddhahood.  These  are  the  so-called  Perfections. 
The  full  list  are  ten^  in  number ;  namely,  Charity,  Morality, 
Resignation,  Wisdom,  Exertion  or  Diligence,  Forbearance, 
Truthfulness,  Persistency,  Love  and  Equanimity.  Ordi- 
narily Japanese  Buddhism  reduces  these  to  six;  namely, 
Charity  (almsgiving  and  teaching).  Morality  (keeping  the 
various  commandments),  Patience  and  Forbearance,  Exer- 
tion or  Diligence  (in  keeping  the  vows  of  a  Bodhisattva), 
Meditation  and  Wisdom  (for  self  and  others). 

These  virtues  were  originally  regarded  as  the  special 
virtues  of  the  few  rare  souls  who  sought  to  be  Bodhisattvas 
and  finally  Buddhas,  but  in  Mahayana  Buddhism  it  is 
theoretically  the  purpose  of  every  believer  to  become  a 
Bodhisattva  and  Buddha,  and  so  these  virtues  are  theoreti- 
cally virtues  which  every  believer  should  practice.     But  as 


BUDDHIST  GOLD  NUGGETS  283 

a  matter  of  fact,  in  practice,  Mahayana  Buddhism  makes  as 
truly  a  distinction  between  the  ordinary  believer  and  the 
candidate  for  Buddhahood  as  the  older  Buddhism  ever  did, 
and  these  Six  Perfections  are  therefore  not  a  very  vital  part 
of  the  ethics  of  the  average  Buddhist.  In  fact,  a  great  many 
Maha^'ana  Buddhists  hold  that  these  difficult  steps  towards 
perfection  are  not  necessary  as  they  have  been  taken  by  the 
various  Bodhisattvas  whose  accumulated  merits  the  believer 
may  appropriate  unto  his  own  benefit  by  the  simple  act  of 
faith.  So  it  comes  back  to  this,  that  for  the  common  man 
at  least,  the  only  necessary  virtue  is  the  virtue  of  faith  in  the 
holiness  and  all-sufficient  merit  of  the  saints  and  Buddhas  who 
have  gone  before.  That  is  why  the  great  formula  of  faith  for 
every  Buddhist  is  the  confession, "  I  take  refuge  in  the  Buddha, 
I  take  refuge  in  the  Law,  I  take  refuge  in  the  Priesthood." 
Even  the  sects  which  make  the  doctrine  of  "Save  thyself" 
their  cardinal  teaching,  combine  with  this  severe  injunction 
the  comfort  that  somehow  the  goodness  of  the  good  and  the 
wisdom  of  the  wise  who  have  gone  before  will  help  those  who 
put  their  trust  in  them. 

The  above  may  be  enough  to  give  the  reader  a  general 
idea  of  Buddhist  ethics,  but  it  is  too  much  like  a  skeleton 
without  flesh  and  blood.  We  therefore  give  below  extracts 
from  the  sacred  scriptures  which  set  forth  succinctly  the 
ethical  ideals.  The  reader  should  not  think,  however,  that 
the  Buddhist  scriptures  always  maintain  this  rather  lofty 
level.  The  extracts  are  choice  bits,  "golden  words"  as  the 
Japanese  compiler  calls  them,  or  "Buddhist  Gold  Nuggets" 
as  we  have  called  them  in  the  "  Transactions  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Japan,"  Vol.  XL,  from  which  they  are  taken. 


C.   Buddhist  Gold  Nuggets 

Commit  no  evil,  do  good  and  purify  your  own        General 
heart;    this  is  the  teaching  of  all  the  Buddhas. 
(Nehankyo) 

Hate  not,  quarrel  not,  abuse  no  one ;  these  are 
the  teachings  of  Buddhism.     (H6z6ky5) 


284 


STUDIES  IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 


Fear 
EvU 


Do  Good 


Err  not 
in  Your 
Heart 


Make  Up- 
right Your 
Heart 


Do  not  make  light  of  little  evils,  thinking  them 
harmless ;  for  even  drops  of  water,  small  as  they 
are,  will  at  length  fill  a  large  vessel.     (Nehankyo) 

Evils  are  born  of  the  heart,  and  reacting  upon 
it  destroy  it;  just  like  rust  is  born  of  the  iron 
which  it  consumes.     (Hainiku) 

Rather  thrust  a  dagger  into  your  bosom  than 
embrace  evil ;  and  it  is  more  desirable  to  be 
crushed  under  the  weight  of  Mt.  Sumeru  than  to 
commit  one  evil  deed.     (Ninnikukyo) 

Peace  of  mind  and  understanding  the  Way  are 
both  born  of  goodness.  Goodness  is  a  great 
armor  which  fears  no  weapon.  (Ananfum- 
betsukyo) 

A  good  man  does  good  deeds  and  he  passes 
from  bliss  unto  bliss,  from  light  into  light;  but 
an  evil  man  does  evil  deeds  and  he  goes  from 
affliction  unto  affliction,  from  darkness  into  dark- 
ness.    (Muryojukyo) 

Buddha  said  to  Shamon,  "Beware  of  trusting 
your  own  heart;  for  the  heart,  after  all,  is  un- 
reliable."    (Shijunishokyo) 

Be  the  master  of  your  own  heart,  and  do  not 
let  it  master  you.     (Nehankyo) 

The  heart  is  the  source  of  great  disasters ;  keep, 
then,  this  heart  under  control.     (Hounkyo) 

Stand  resolute,  keep  your  body  erect  and  your 
conduct  upright.  Do  every  good,  keep  yourself 
under  control  and  your  body  pure.  Wash  the 
filth  from  your  heart,  and  make  your  words 
and  conduct  harmonize.  Be  sincere,  frank  and 
temperate,  helping  one  another  and  praying  with 
understanding.  In  this  way  you  shall  be  able 
to  heap  up  virtue.     (Muryojukyo) 

I  am  not  ashamed  when  I  sit  among  men,  and 
the  reason  I  am  held  in  esteem  by  them  is  because 
my  heart  is  pure  and  upright.     (Shogyokyo) 

Buddha  said,  "0  Monks,  the  heart  that  flatters 


BUDDHIST  GOLD  NUGGETS  285 

cannot  conform  unto  the  Way;  therefore  make 
your  heart  sincere.  Moreover  know  this  that 
flattery  only  works  deception,  and  he  who  walks 
in  the  Way  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Make, 
then,  your  heart  upright  and  let  integrity  be  your 
guiding  principle.     (Yuigyokyo) 

First  examine  yourself  and  then  others;    first  Examine 
examine  your  own  will  and  then  the  will  of  others ;     °"^^® 
first  examine  your  own  principles  and  then  the 
principles  of  others.     (Chushinkyo) 

Man  usually  fails  to  curb  his  own  will  and 
yet  he  tries  to  conquer  the  will  of  others.  First 
therefore  curb  your  own  will  and  then  shall  you 
be  able  to  control  the  will  of  others.     (Sanekyo) 

The  Bodhisattva  knows  nothing  but  his  own 
heart.  And  why  is  this  ?  Because  he  who  knows 
his  own  heart  knows  the  heart  of  all  beings,  and 
he  whose  heart  is  pure,  to  him  the  heart  of  every 
being  is  pure.     (Daisogonhomonkyo) 

Buddha  said,  "O  my  Disciples,  refrain  from  Guard 
meaningless  words,   be  always  on  guard  as  to  gpggch 
what  you  say,  know  when  to  speak  and  when  to 
keep  quiet,   let  your  words   conform   unto  the 
Law,  and  let  your  words  always  be  edifying  unto 
others  even  when  making  a  joke.     (Kegoiil\;yo) 

Men  of  this  world  are  prone  to  use  their  tongue 
like  a  sharp  knife ;  with  their  mouth  they  speak 
glibly  about  various  poisons  and  evils,  while  it 
is  the  tongue  itself  that  really  poisons  the  body. 
(ChSseinponkyo) 

Men  who  speak  true  words  gain  a  boundless 
fortune ;  not  through  the  gifts  they  may  receive, 
nor  through  their  ascetic  practices  or  profound 
learning,  but  solely  by  being  truthful.  (Chido- 
ron) 

Do  not  use  many  words  and  put  a  watch  upon 
your  lips  that  you  use  no  violent  language,  for  this 
is  what  is  meant  by  True  Words.     (Daishukyo) 


286  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Foolish  utterances  are  the  affliction  of  all 
mankind,  and  they  live  in  darkness.  Life 
they  have  but  it  is  like  unto  death.  (Shoho- 
nenjokyo) 

Be  Patient  Patience  is  the  source  of  all  happiness. 
(Rokudoshukyo) 

The  happiness  born  of  patience  brings  peace, 
prosperity  and  endless  joy.     (Ninnikukyo) 

If  one  tries  to  end  strife  by  strife,  there  will 
be  strife  forever.  Forbearance  alone  can  end 
strife,  and  this  is  truly  a  precious  law.  (Chua- 
gonky5) 

Nothing  is  so  strong  as  patience;  and  where 
patience  dwells  malice  takes  flight.  (Shijuni- 
shokyo) 

Patience  is  the  real  cause  which  brings  true 
deliverance.  The  understanding  of  the  ultimate 
rightness  and  equality  of  things  is  but  the  fruit 
of  patience.     (Ubasokukaikyo) 

Be  Diligent  O  Monks,  be  diligent  in  your  work  and  then 
nothing  will  be  difficult.  Wherefore,  O  Monks, 
consecrate  yourselves  earnestly  to  your  work; 
for  even  little  drops  of  water,  falling  ceaselessly, 
w^ill  finally  make  a  hole  even  in  a  rock.  (Yui- 
gyokyo) 

It  is  not  necessary  to  wait  several  Kalpas  to 
obtain  the  reward ;  the  greater  the  consecration 
the  sooner  the  reward.     (Kegonkyo) 

Negli-  Negligence  is  the  enemy  of  all  discipline.     In 

gence  ^^le  case  of  laymen  negligence  leads  to  want,  and 

industry  lags  because  of  it.  With  monks  negli- 
gence hinders  the  work  of  deliverance  from  suffer- 
ing and  blocks  the  entrance  to  the  Way.  (Hon- 
gyokyo) 

Licen-  Licentiousness  is  the  fountainhead  of  all  evil; 

tiousness      sobriety,  the  source  of  all  good.     (Nehankyo)      ^ 
Licentiousness  stands  foremost  in  the  rank  of 
sins.     (Shohdnenjokyo) 


BUDDHIST  GOLD  NUGGETS  287 

Licentiousness  is  the  taproot  of  all  suffering  and 
sorrow ;  if,  then,  you  desire  to  escape  from  suffering, 
fling  away  licentiousness.     (Sh6h5nenjoky6) 

O  my   Disciples,  flee  from  fornication,  know  Guard 
how  to  be  content  with  your  own  wife,  and  do  Chastity 
not  even  for  a  single  moment  lust  after  another 
woman.     (Kegonkyo) 

Fornication  is  an  act  of  impurity.  He  who  falls 
into  this  temptation  loses  the  straight  Way, 
ruins  his  own  life  and  early  ends  in  the  grave. 
His  sin  will  lead  to  obstinacy  and  stupidity,  and 
in  the  next  world  he  will  be  doomed  to  the  evil 
way.  Wherefore  be  careful  that  you  do  not  get 
entangled  in  sensuality.     (Hasshikyo) 

Buddha  said,  "Sell  not  your  love  for  gain,  O 
]\Ien  and  Women,  for  this  cannot  lead  to  a 
righteous  life.     (Bonmokyo) 

A  sense  of  shame  is  a  garment  for  all  goodness.  Have  a 
(Daiunkyo)  Sense  of 

If  the  dirt  and  filth  (of  the  heart)  is  washed  off 
with  tears  of  penitence,  both  body  and  soul  will 
become  vessels  of  cleanliness  and  purity.  (Shinji- 
kankyo) 

He  who  has  a  feeling  of  shame  and  humiliation 
shall  have  his  sins  wiped  out  and  he  shall  become 
as  clean  and  pure  as  before.     (Nehankyo) 

There  are  two  wonderful  laws  in  the  world  which 
shield  man ;  namely,  the  feeling  of  shame  and  the 
feeling  of  humiliation.  Without  these  two  laws 
mankind  would  be  on  a  level  with  the  beasts, 
whether  one  is  a  father  or  mother,  older  or  younger 
brother,  wife  or  child,  wise  man  or  teacher,  great 
or  small.     (Zoichiagonkyo) 

Honesty  is  the  Paradise  of  the  Bodhisattva.  Be  Honest 
(Yuimakyo) 

The  Way  is  born  of  the  heart ;  if  the  heart  is 
upright,  the  Way  will  be  open.  (Butsuhatsu- 
hannehankyo) 


288 


STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 


Be  Not 
Drunk 
with 
Wine 


Know  How 
to  be 
Content 


Cultivate 
Wisdom 


O  Disciples,  shun  every  kind  of  theft,  know 
that  you  shall  not  lack  any  of  the  necessities  of 
life;  and  take  nothing  which  belongs  to  others 
unless  it  is  given  to  you.     (Kegonkyo) 

The  Nyorais  of  the  Ten  Regions  pass  through 
life  and  death  by  the  one  road  of  honesty. 
(Engakuky5) 

Wine  is  the  source  of  vice  and  all  evils.  He  who 
avoids  w^ine  shall  be  saved  from  many  a  sin. 
(Nehankyo) 

He  who  henceforth  makes  me  his  master  must 
avoid  tasting  even  so  small  a  drop  of  wine  as 
the  dewdrop  falling  from  a  blade  of  grass. 
(Shiburitsu) 

He  who  does  not  know  how  to  be  content  with 
what  he  has  is  poor  however  rich  he  may  be ;  but 
he  who  has  learned  to  be  content  is  rich  even 
though  he  may  have  very  little.     (Yuigyokyo) 

Buddha  said,  "O  Monks,  excessive  w^ants  are 
the  seat  of  suffering;  and  the  labor  and  weari- 
ness of  this  world  of  Life  and  Death  arise  from 
covetousness.  Remember  that  he  who  wants 
little  and  so  is  above  the  concerns  of  this  life 
is  perfectly  free  both  as  to  body  and  mind. 
(Hachidaininkakukyo) 

Contentment  is  the  domain  of  wealth  and 
pleasure,  of  peace  and  rest.  The  contented 
man  is  happy  and  at  peace  even  though  his  bed 
is  the  bare  ground;  while  the  man  who  knows 
not  the  secret  of  being  content  is  not  satisfied 
even  when  dwelling  in  heavenly  places.  (Yui- 
gyokyo) 

Wisdom  is  the  strong  ship  which  carries  us 
across  the  sea  of  life  and  death.  It  is  the  light- 
house which  lights  up  the  encircling  darkness; 
it  is  the  good  medicine  for  all  patients,  and  the 
sharp  ax  which  cuts  down  the  trees  of  passion. 
(Yuigyokyo) 


BUDDHIST  GOLD  NUGGETS  289 

The  advent  of  truth  and  wisdom  is  like  the 
sunrise  which  drives  away  darkness,  no  one  knows 
whence.     (Ajaseiokyo) 

Even  if  one  commits  a  serious  crime,  its  traces  Repent 
will  be  wiped  out  if  one  repents.     If  one  repents 
daily  with  all  one's  might,  the  root  of  sin  will 
forever  be  torn  out.     (Zoichiagonkyo) 

A  man  may  commit  a  grave  sin,  but  if  he  takes 
himself  seriously  in  hand  and  truly  repents  so 
that  he  desires  to  sin  no  more,  the  effects  of  his 
sin  shall  be  eradicated.     (Goho) 

If  you  would  repent,  call  upon  all  the  Buddhas 
of  the  universe,  read  the  scriptures,  make  vows 
with  a  sincere  heart,  and  seek  to  destroy  every 
evil  deed  of  body  and  soul ;  for  thus  shall  your 
sins  be  blotted  out  moment  by  moment.  (Kan- 
fugenkyo) 

Gratitude  is  the  foundation  of  great  mercy  and  Know  How  /» 
the  door  which  leads  to  good  deeds.  A  grateful  xhankful 
man  is  beloved  and  esteemed  by  men,  his  name 
will  be  made  famous,  after  death  he  will  be  born 
into  heaven  and  at  last  he  will  be  perfect  in  the 
ways  of  Buddha.  An  ungrateful  man  is  even 
lower  than  the  brutes.     (Chidoron) 

A  state  without  a  ruler  is  like  a  body  without  Be  Loyal 
a  head ;    it  cannot   exist  very  long.     (Bussetsu-  ^  ^?^^ 
jiaikyo) 

Prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  people  depend 
upon  the  king.     (Shinjikankyo) 

The  king  looks  upon  his  subjects  with  a  heart 
of  mercy  as  if  they  were  his  children;  and  the 
people  regard  the  king  as  their  father.  (Skoguno- 
shomonkyo) 

Great  and  wide  are  the  mercy  and  virtue  of  a 
righteous  king.  He  who  knows  no  gratitude 
towards  the  king  shall  suffer  for  it.  (Shinji- 
kankyo) 

When  you  see  the  king,  entertain  a  feeling  of 


290 


STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE    BUDDHISM 


Obey  Your 
Parents 


Duties  of 
Parents 


Relation  of 
Master 
and 
Disciple 


reverence  in  your  mind ;  and  when  you  are  in 
the  presence  of  your  parents,  show  affection. 
(Myohoshonenjokyo) 

Nothing  is  greater  than  fiHal  piety,  for  it  is 
the  culmination  of  virtue.  The  culmination  of 
all  wickedness  is  ungratefulness  to  parents. 
(Ninnikukyo) 

A  devotional  service  to  parents  is  more  noble 
than  giving  alms,  even  though  the  pile  of  treasure 
disbursed  should  reach  from  the  earth  into  the 
twenty-eighth  heaven.     (Matsuramatsukyo) 

Filial  piety  is  more  noble  than  devotion  to  the 
spirits  and  gods  that  inhabit  heaven  and  earth ; 
for  parents  are  indeed  the  highest  gods.  (Shi- 
junishokyo) 

If  there  is  no  Buddha  in  the  world,  be  good  to 
your  parents ;  for  to  be  good  to  one's  parents  is 
to  minister  unto  Buddha.     (Daishukyo) 

Food,  drink  and  treasures  are  not  sufficient 
to  express  one's  gratitude  for  the  love  of  parents ; 
the  best  expression  is  shown  by  turning  them  to 
the  right  doctrine  through  Indo  (saying  mass 
for  the  spirits  of  ancestors  and  so  guiding  them 
on  the  Way).     (Fushigikokyo) 

The  duties  of  parents  towards  their  children 
are  five,  namely :  To  see  to  it  that  they  shun  all 
evil  and  do  good,  to  teach  them  how  to  read  and 
write,  to  teach  them  to  observe  the  doctrines 
and  commandments  (of  Buddhism),  to  see  to  it 
that  they  get  married,  and  to  pass  on  to  them  the 
property  of  the  family.     (Ropporaikyo) 

The  disciple,  in  following  his  master,  should  be 
careful  not  to  tread  upon  his  master's  shadow. 
(Shamiigikyo) 

He  who  knows  gratitude  towards  his  teacher 
pays  heed  to  the  teacher's  words  when  he  is  in 
his  presence ;  and  in  his  teacher's  absence  he 
meditates  upon  his  teachings.     (Chushingyo) 


BUDDHIST  GOLD  NUGGETS  291 

There  are  five  things  which  a  disciple  observes 
in  his  devotion  to  his  teacher :  He  suppUes  his 
wants,  does  him  homage  and  bestows  upon  him  a 
devotional  service,  honors  and  reveres  him,  gives 
implicit  and  respectful  obedience  to  his  com- 
mands, gives  heed  to  his  instruction  in  the  Law 
and  observes  the  teaching,  never  forgetting  it. 
(Choagonkyo) 

The  teacher  should  observe  the  following  five 
rules  towards  his  disciple :  He  should  train  him 
in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  the  Law, 
teach  what  his  disciple  has  not  yet  learned, 
make  him  appreciate  the  moral  value  of  the 
doctrines,  choose  good  friends  for  him,  and 
give  him  his  best  and  fullest  knowledge.  (Cho- 
agonkyd) 

The   virtuous  man   should  be  regarded   as  a  Honor  the 
Buddha.     (Kikkyokyo)  ^^^  ^""^ 

Be  not  haughty  in  the  presence  of  a  wise  man, 
nor  slander  the  good  man.     (Kikkyokyo) 

For  an  evil  man  to  slander  a  wise  man  is  like 
spitting  at  the  heavens ;  the  spit  will  never  reach 
the  heavens  but  only  fall  on  the  face  of  the  spitter. 
And  again,  it  is  like  throwing  dust  against  the 
wind  which  ends  in  being  blown  against  the  one 
who  tries  it.  He  who  reviles  the  wise  only  brings 
calamity  upon  himself.     (Skijiinish5ky6) 

If  a  man  has  wise  and  good  men  for  friends,  his  Choose 
heart  and  body  will  be  made  clean  both  inwardly  Fiends 
and  outwardly.     Such  men  are  the  really  true 
and  good  men.     (Dais5gonky6ron) 

Wise  men  are  the  source  of  all  bliss;  in  this 
world  they  help  us  escape  from  the  prisons  of 
kings,  and  after  death  they  protect  us  from  the 
gates  of  the  Three  Infernal  Regions.  Thus  our 
ascending  into  heaven  and  our  entering  upon  the 
Way  are  made  possible  through  the  help  of  good 
friends.     (Tanyokyo) 


292 


STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 


Rules  of 
Friendship 


The 
Family 


Duties  of 
Husbands 
and  Wives 


There  are  three  rules  which  a  friend  should 
observe  towards  a  friend,  namely :  He  should 
admonish  him  when  at  fault,  cherish  with  a  deep 
joy  whatever  good  there  is  in  him,  stand  by  him 
in  time  of  trouble.     (Ingwakyo) 

A  friend  should  not  be  forsaken  simply  on  the 
strength  of  some  other  person's  evil  report.  If 
you  hear  your  friend  evilly  spoken  of,  be  all  the 
more  careful  to  find  out  the  truth  in  the  matter. 
(Komponbinakyo) 

Let  father  and  son,  brother  and  sister,  husband 
and  wife,  all  the  members  of  the  family  and  all 
relatives  love  and  respect  each  other ;  and  never 
let  them  entertain  a  feeling  of  bitterness  and 
hatred.  Those  who  have  great  possessions  should 
not  be  avaricious  towards  those  who  have  little. 
Word  and  conduct  should  harmonize,  and  all  in- 
consistency in  dealing  with  one  another  should  be 
avoided.     (Muryojukyo) 

If  all  are  faithful,  there  will  be  peace  in  the 
home,  and  fortune  will  smile  upon  the  family 
naturally  and  without  there  being  any  need  to 
have  it  bestowed  by  the  gods.  (Ananfumbe- 
tsukyo) 

A  husband  should  support  and  please  his  wife 
by  observing  the  following  five  points  :  He  should 
respect  her  with  a  sincere  heart,  never  bear  any 
ill-will  against  her,  love  her  with  a  pure  affection, 
give  her  whatever  food  and  clothing  she  may 
need,  and  from  time  to  time  present  her  with 
gifts  to  adorn  her  person.     (Zenshoshikyo) 

A  good  wife  spares  not  her  own  life,  and  under 
no  circumstances  does  she  do  anything  contrary 
to  her  husband's  will.     (Zoichiagonkyo) 

Only  a  chaste,  wise  and  clever  wife  is  fit  to 
bring  up  children ;  and  children  who  have  such 
a  mother  cannot  fail  to  become  men  and  women 
of  great  character.     (Zoichiagonkyo) 


BUDDHIST  GOLD  NUGGETS  293 

All  the  doctrines  of  Buddhism  are  grounded  Mercy 
in  mercy.     (Kegonkyd) 

Every  virtue  has  mercy  as  its  root.  (Nehan- 
kvo) 

The  heart  of  mercy  is  the  primary  and  secondary 
cause  of  all  peace  and  pleasure.  (Ubasonku- 
kaikyo) 

He  who  shows  pity  towards  a  beggar  opens  the 
prison  gates  of  Hungry  Spirits.  (Bosatsuhon- 
gyokyo) 

He  who  gives  alms  shall  receive  a  blessing ;  he 
who  shows  mercy  shall  never  be  hated ;  he  who 
does  good  destroys  evil;  and  he  who  conquers 
evil  desires  shall  be  free  from  all  trouble. 
(Choagonkyd) 

He  who  gives  alms  with  a  view  of  obtaining 
birth  into  heaven,  or  does  it  in  order  to  make  a 
name  for  himself  and  receive  a  reward  in  return, 
or  again  is  kind,  being  prompted  only  by  a  feeling 
of  fear,  shall  in  no  way  obtain  the  pure  fruit. 
(Fumbetsugohokyo) 

He  who  walks  in  the  way  of  benevolence  and  Love  All 
shows  mercy,  loving  all  and  saving  many,  shall 
obtain  the  Eleven  Blessings  and  shall  always  be 
attended  by  fortune.  These  Eleven  Blessings  are : 
A  restful  sleep,  peace  when  awake,  without  bad 
dreams,  protected  by  Heaven,  beloved  by  men, 
immune  to  poison,  not  in  danger  of  water,  not  in 
danger  of  fire,  alwa^'s  prosperous,  and  after 
death  birth  into  Heaven.     (Hokukyo) 

Do  nothing  unto  others  which  you  would  not 
have  done  unto  yourself.     (Gokushokukyo) 

Nothing  lives  that  does  not  fear  the  sword  and 
rod,  and  that  does  not  love  life.  Therefore  treat 
others  as  you  would  yourself.  Do  not  kill  or 
wield  the  big  stick.     (Nehankyo) 

To  spare  not  yourself  in  saving  others  is  the 
noblest.     The  second  grade  of  nobility  is  to  save 


294  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

others  and  yourself.     The  third  grade  in  point  of 

nobiHty  is  to  save  yourself  when  you  cannot  save 

others ;  and  the  lowest  is  to  save  neither  yourself 

nor  others.     (Hoshakukyo) 

Men  He  who  with  a  steady  heart  raises  his  voice 

Ahwavs         ^^^   without   ceasing   prays  the   prayer,   Xamu 

Pray  Amida  Butsu,  "I  adore  Thee  Thou  Buddha  of 

Boundless  Light  and  Life,"  shall  be  free  from  his 

sins  committed  during  eighty  Kalpas  of  Life  and 

Death  and  he  shall  obtain  birth  into  Paradise. 

(Kwammury  6  j  uky  o) 


CHAPTER  VII 

The    Place    of   Buddhism    in    Japanese   Life  —  Past, 

Present  and  Future 

A.    The  Influence  in  the  Past 

An  interesting  but  exceedingly  difficult  problem  is  the  one 
as  to  what  place  Buddhism  has  had  in  the  life  of  the  Jap- 
anese people.  The  answer  to  this  question  is  peculiarly 
difficult  because  Buddhism  is  not  and  has  not  been  the  sole 
religion  of  Japan,  but  during  the  greater  part  of  its  long 
history  in  this  land  it  has  been  closely  bound  up  with  Shinto 
and  Confucianism ;  so  that  even  to-day,  though  it  is  officially 
separated  from  Shinto,  a  great  many  Japanese  are  Shin- 
toists,  Confucianists  and  Buddhists  at  one  and  the  same  time. 
Some  writers  speak  of  Shinto  as  the  root,  Confucianism  as 
the  branches  and  leaves,  and  Buddhism  as  the  flowers  and 
fruit  of  the  tree  of  Japanese  civilization.  This  conception 
is  not  altogether  wrong,  for  it  is  true  that  historically  Shinto 
comes  first,  and  that  in  organizing  legal  and  educational  in- 
stitutions Confucianism  has  played  a  prominent  part,  and 
that  finally  the  chief  contribution  of  Buddhism  lies  in  the 
realm  of  art,  philosophy  and  religion.  But  since  art,  phi- 
losophy and  religion  are  not  only  the  flower  and  fruit  of  a 
civilization  but  also  in  turn  become  the  root  and  branches 
of  the  succeeding  stages,  Buddhism  from  the  ninth  century 
on  has  been  a  real  part  of  the  roots,  branches,  leaves,  flowers 
and  fruit  of  the  Japanese  tree  of  life.  That  is,  its  influence 
has  been  so  profound  that  there  is  no  aspect  of  Japanese 
life  which  has  not  been  greatly  modified  by  it.  This  influ- 
ence cannot  be  measured  by  enumerating  simply  the  major 
points,  though  this  is  all  that  we  can  do  here,  but  so  far- 

295 


296  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

reaching  has  it  been  that  one  can  see  it  also  in  countless 
minor  ways  which  apparently  have  little  to  do  with  religion 
as  such. 

Among  the  major  contributions  which  Buddhism  made 
to  Japanese  life  we  must  place  first  and  foremost  the  fact 
that  it  has  been  a  vehicle  of  the  higher  civilization  of  the 
continent.     This  was  true  not  only  during  its  beginnings  in 
this  land  when  it  so  obviously  was  the  means  of  bringing  in 
the  wealth  of  Korean  and  Chinese  culture,  but  down  to  the 
Tokugawa  period  the  Buddhist  monks  and  priests  continued 
to  be  the  chief  means  by  which  Japan  kept  in  touch  with 
the  rest  of  the  world.     The  point  cannot  be  overstated,  for 
just  as  truly  as  Christian  missionaries  from  Europe  and 
America  have  been  the  apostles  of  a  superior  civilization 
to  the  backward  nations  of  the  world,  so    have  the  Bud- 
dhists often  been  to  Japan  the  messengers  of  progress  and 
light.     In  a  real  sense  has  Buddhism  been  the  "Light  of 
Asia,"  and  perhaps  no  part  of  Asia  has  received  as  much 
through  it  as  has  Japan.     In  saying  this  we  do  not  wish  to 
imply  that  Japan  would  have  remained  in  darkness  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  religion  of  the  Buddha.     It  is  naturally 
impossible  to  say  just  what  would  have  taken  its  place. 
Perhaps  Shinto,  though  a  very  primitive  religion,  would 
have  developed  into  a  higher,  and  on  the  whole,  a  more  sat- 
isfactory religion.     Nor  do  we  wish  to  imply  that  Buddhism 
is  not  to-day  an  actual  hindrance  to  the  coming  of  the 
"Greater  Light,"  the  "Light  of  the  World."     But  the  his- 
tory of  Japan  having  been  what  it  was,  it  is  correct  to  say 
that  Buddhism  has  been  a  determining  factor,  and  that  the 
sources  of  Japanese  culture  have  been  either  directly  or  in- 
directly mainly  Buddhist. 

As  Buddhism  was  both  a  vehicle  of  a  higher  civilization 
and  itself  the  expression  of  such  a  civilization  naturally  its 
influence  on  the  intellectual  life  of  the  nation  was  incalcu- 
lable. Shinto  was  the  religion  of  an  immature  people,  Bud- 
dhism a  philosophy  of  life  as  worked  out  by  a  profoundly 
meditative  and  speculative  India.  Thus  the  first  really 
deep-going  influence  which  Buddhism  exerted  upon  Japan 


BUDDHISM'S  CONTRIBUTION  297 

was  that  it  led  the  people  to  think  more  profoundly  upon 
the  problems  of  human  life.  This  intellectual  stimulus  ex- 
tended in  all  directions.  First  of  all  it  affected  the  native 
religion,  and  Shinto  was  raised  from  a  jumble  of  contra- 
dictory legends  and  myths  into  what  was  at  least  the  sem- 
blance of  a  reasoned  philosophy  of  life.  The  various  legends 
were  systematized  and  built  up  into  a  more  or  less  connected 
whole.  The  Japanese  began  to  work  out  a  connected  ac- 
count of  the  past  and  wrote  the  first  history  of  their  race. 
It  is  true  that  the  Kojiki  and  Nihongi  are  not  real  histories, 
but  they  are  attempts  to  weld  together  in  some  way  the 
traditions  of  the  past  into  a  historic  narrative.  Then  further, 
this  intellectual  stimulus  soon  showed  itself  in  its  effect 
upon  the  language.  With  the  coming  of  Buddhism  the 
Japanese  language  was  raised  into  a  real  medium  of  edu- 
cation and  culture.  A  very  large  per  cent  of  the  present 
vocabulary  came  either  directly  from  Buddhism  or  was 
added  from  the  Chinese  to  give  an  adequate  expression  of 
the  new  ideas  w^hich  came  in  the  train  of  the  new  religion. 
The  spread  of  the  art  of  reading  and  writing,  and  thus  edu- 
cation in  general,  was  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Bud- 
dhists. Buddhism  taught  Japan  the  elements  of  logic, 
psychology,  natural  sciences  as  then  known  in  India  and 
China  and  the  subtleties  of  philosophy  and  metaphysical 
speculations.  The  first  sects  introduced  laid  special  stress 
on  dialectics  and  psychological  analysis,  and  this  certainly 
had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  sharpening  the  intellectual  powers 
of  the  people.  And  what  was  true  in  the  early  days  re- 
mained true  for  centuries ;  namely,  that  whatever  the  Japanese 
knew  of  philosophy  and  science  they  owed  largely  to  Bud- 
dhism. This  intellectual  development  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  when  Western  culture  came  to  Japan  in  the  modern 
period  the  Japanese  were  able  to  assimilate  it  in  such  a  sur- 
prisingly short  time,  and  that  to-day  there  are  Japanese 
scholars  in  every  field  of  learning  who  can  hold  their  own 
with  the  scholars  of  any  nation.  In  short,  Japan  has  been 
a  cultured  nation  for  centuries  and  she  owes  to  Buddhism 
a  great  debt  for  the  major  part  of  this  culture. 


298  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Now  this  spread  of  general  culture  and  this  development 
of  the  intellectual  powers  of  the  people  naturally  had  a  pro- 
found effect  on  every  phase  of  life.  Thus  e.g.,  in  the 
political  world  it  helped  create  a  new  Japan.  When  Bud- 
dhism reached  these  shores,  as  we  saw  in  Chapter  III,  Japan 
was  not  yet  a  real  nation.  It  was  rather  a  land  inhabited 
by  various  tribes  with  the  tribe  in  the  Kyoto-Osaka  region 
gradually  gaining  the  ascendancy.  Buddhism  enlarged  the 
horizon  of  the  people  with  its  constant  emphasis  on  uni- 
versals,  so  that  the  tribe-idea  naturally  had  to  give  way  to 
the  national  ideal.  It  is  true,  as  we  said  above,  that  the 
organization  of  the  political  institutions  came  from  Confu- 
cianism, but  it  came  largely  through  the  Buddhist  mission- 
aries and  educators.  And  again  it  is  true  that  Shinto  has 
been  the  political  weapon  through  which  patriotism  was 
cultivated  and  the  various  tribes  subdued  and  unified,  but, 
after  all,  it  was  a  Shinto  profoundly  modified  by  Buddhism, 
and  it  was  the  Buddhist  philosopher  who  laid  the  real  foun- 
dations of  the  Japanese  state  by  inspiring  the  early  historians 
to  build  up  the  myths  and  legends  of  prehistoric  times  into 
a  more  or  less  concatenated  whole.  Even  to  this  day  the 
Japanese  state  has  for  one  of  its  main  pillars  the  legendary 
history  of  the  Kojiki  and  Niliongi  which,  in  an  indirect  way 
at  least,  owe  their  very  existence  to  the  impact  of  Buddhist 
culture  upon  early  Japan.  Then  further,  the  part  which 
Buddhist  monks  and  priests  played  in  the  actual  political 
development  of  the  nation  through  the  centuries  is  beyond 
measure.  It  is  true  that  this  was  far  from  being  a  noble 
part  in  all  cases.  In  fact  there  were  times  w^hen  the  rulers 
of  the  nation  were  little  more  than  mere  puppets  of  ambitious 
priests  who  shielded  themselves  behind  the  sacred  mantle 
or  the  hallowed  walls  of  a  powerful  monastery.  What  we 
wish  to  point  out,  however,  is  that  whether  for  good  or  evil 
the  part  which  Buddhism  has  played  in  the  political  life 
of  Japan  has  been  not  only  an  indirect  influence  but  often  a 
very  direct  and  decisive  one. 

But  not  to  claim  for  Buddhism  too  much  either  of  good  or 
evil  in  a  field  usually  claimed  for  Shinto  and  Confucianism, 


BUDDHISM'S  CONTRIBUTION  299 

let  us  come  to  the  sphere  in  which  the  influence  of  this  re- 
ligion is  self-evident,  we  mean  the  field  of  art,  philosophy 
and  religion. 

In  the  field  of  art  it  is  more  correct  to  say  that  Buddhism 
created  certain  branches  of  Japanese  art  than  simply  that 
it  influenced  them.  Thus  Japanese  architecture,  sculpture 
and  painting  are  what  they  are  because  Buddhism  has  made 
them  so.  Music  and  poetry  have  also  been  influenced, 
though  perhaps  to  a  lesser  degree. 

If  in  the  field  of  architecture  we  were  to  remove  from 
these  pine-clad  hills  and  valleys  the  Buddhist  temples,  mon- 
asteries and  flights  of  stone  steps  leading  up  to  them,  very 
little  of  grandeur  or  beauty  would  remain.  The  average 
Japanese  house  seems  to  be  a  development  of  the  primeval 
hut  and  as  a  work  of  architecture  it  cannot  claim  a  very 
high  place.  What  makes  it  attractive  is  not  any  architec- 
tural feature  but  rather  the  cleanliness,  neatness  and 
simplicity  of  the  interior;  or  it  may  be  its  picturesque  en- 
vironment. The  Shinto  shrine,  too,  cannot  be  said  to  rank 
very  high,  though  the  shrine  entrance,  the  Torii,  may  be 
regarded  as  a  real  work  of  art.  But  it  is  really  only  when 
we  come  to  Buddhist  buildings  that  Japanese  architecture 
can  make  any  claims.  We  are  not  saying  that  these  measure . 
up  to  the  architectural  monuments  of  the  West,  but  only 
that  whatever  there  is  in  Japan  that  merits  any  attention 
along  this  line  belongs  to  Buddhism. 

In  the  field  of  sculpture  Japan  is  relatively  much  richer, 
and  this  is  almost  purely  the  product  of  Buddhism,  What 
existed  of  this  art  before  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  may 
be  classed  with  the  crude  clay  figures  produced  by  most 
primitive  peoples.  It  is  surprising  in  what  a  short  time  really 
world  masterpieces  in  bronze,  clay  and  wood  were  produced. 
As  we  saw  in  Chapter  III,  within  a  hundred  years  after 
Buddhism  had  reached  these  shores,  the  Buddhist  sculptors 
were  doing  wonders.  The  world's  largest  bronze  statue 
belongs  to  Japanese  Buddhism  of  the  eighth  century.  It  is 
true  that  this  does  not  rank  so  very  high  as  a  work  of  art, 
but  there  are  many  smaller  relics  of  that  period  which  do 


300  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

rank  high.  And  not  only  during  that  first  period  did  the 
Buddhist  sculptor  carve  his  ideals  in  wood  and  bronze,  but 
all  down  through  the  centuries  he  dominated  this  art.  The 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  images  and  statues  which 
are  to  be  found  in  temples,  temple  grounds,  along  the  high- 
ways and  byways,  in  cities,  towns  and  villages,  in  valleys, 
on  hills,  mountain  sides  and  mountain  peaks,  —  all  these 
are  the  handiwork  of  the  Buddhist  artists.  And  not  only 
is  the  Buddhist  pilgrim  surrounded  on  his  journey  through 
life  by  the  symbols  of  the  things  invisible,  but  when  he 
is  dead  and  buried  Buddhist  art  in  stone  and  bronze 
marks  his  resting  place  and  "implores  the  passing  tribute 
of  a  sigh." 

And  if  Buddhist  ideals  have  guided  the  chisel  and  the  knife, 
they  have  also  inspired  the  pencil  and  the  brush.  Here  the 
influence,  though  perhaps  less  evident  to  the  casual  stu- 
dent, is  equally  striking.  In  a  land  of  such  natural  beauty 
as  Japan  one  would  naturally  expect  the  painter  to  be  in- 
spired largely  by  his  wonderful  environment,  but  instead 
of  that,  practically  all  the  older  schools  of  painters  were  in- 
spired by  Indian  and  Chinese  masterpieces  introduced  by 
Buddhism.  Thus  one  student  of  the  subject  says  that  "it 
may  safely  be  asserted  that  not  one  in  twenty  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  these  painters,  who  to  the  present  day  are  con- 
sidered to  represent  the  true  genius  of  Japanese  art,  was 
inspired  by  the  works  of  nature  as  seen  in  their  own  beauti- 
ful country."  In  fact  the  very  neglect  of  perspective  in 
landscape  paintings  and  the  "impossible  mountains"  in 
these  are  well-known  characteristics.  It  may  be  that  the 
very  exquisiteness  of  the  scenery  in  Japan  has  made  the 
artist  despair  of  ever  producing  it  on  canvas,  and  so  instead 
he  seeks  only  to  suggest  it,  leaving  everything  but  a  few  bold 
strokes  marking  the  outline  to  be  supplied  by  the  imagination. 
The  oldest  Japanese  painting,  dating  as  it  is  believed  from  the 
seventh  century,  is  a  mural  decoration  in  Horyuji,  a  Bud- 
dhist temple  near  Nara.  Practically  all  the  leading  schools 
down  to  the  present  day  had  their  birth  in  a  Buddhist  atmos- 
phere.   Thus  the  great  painters,  Cho  Densu  and  Josetsu, 


BUDDHISM'S  CONTRIBUTION  301 

the  most  famous  names  in  the  most  glorious  period  of  Jap- 
anese painting,  were  Buddhist  priests.  The  great  men  who 
succeeded  them  and  founded  independent  schools,  all  kept 
true  to  the  old  traditions  and  preferred  the  models  intro- 
duced from  China  by  the  Buddhist  monks  from  century  to 
century  to  the  infinitely  more  perfect  models  which  nature 
itself  supplies  to  every  artist  in  Japan.  Thus  while  Bud- 
dhism has  created  and  nurtured  the  art  of  painting  in  Japan, 
it  may  also  be  said  to  have  hindered  the  highest  development 
in  that  it  has  imposed  a  slavish  adherence  to  classic  Buddhist 
models,  and  only  occasionally  have  artists  been  able  to  break 
away  from  this  tyranny,  and  paint  as  they  really  saw  with 
their  own  eyes. 

The  influence  of  Buddhism  on  music,  the  most  subtle  of  the 
arts,  it  would  be  difficult  for  any  one  not  a  real  student  of 
oriental  music  to  estimate.  And  for  a  Westerner  the  subject 
is  practically  impossible,  for  there  is  nothing  among  things 
oriental  which  seems  more  weird.  It  takes  years  for  one 
whose  ears  are  attuned  to  the  harmonies  of  our  Western 
masters  to  be  willing  to  admit  that  Japan  has  anything 
worthy  of  the  name.  It  often  seems  more  like  the  twang  of 
loosely  strung  chords  terribly  out  of  tune.  One  of  the  best 
authorities  on  the  subject  of  the  scale  in  Japanese  music 
says  that  it  consists  "of  five  notes  of  the  harmonic  minor 
scale,  the  fourth  and  the  seventh  being  omitted,  because, 
as  there  are  five  recognized  colors,  five  planets,  five  ele- 
ments, five  viscera  and  so  on,  there  must  also  be  five  notes 
in  music."  Being  written  in  the  minor  key  its  dominant 
note  is  that  of  melancholy  and  despair,  and  not  that  of  joy 
and  victory.  Because  of  this,  Japanese  music,  whether  in- 
fluenced by  Buddhism  or  not,  is  after  all  a  real  expression 
of  that  pessimistic  philosophy  of  life  of  which  Buddhism 
is  the  best  formulation.  As  one's  understanding  of  this 
philosophy  of  life  grows,  one's  ears  also  become  more  sj^mpa- 
thetic  with  the  music  of  it,  and  especially  do  one's  ears  re- 
spond to  the  one  distinctively  Buddhist  instrument  of 
Japan,  namely,  to  the  rich,  mellow  tones  of  the  temple  bell. 
In  the  words  of  Captain  Brinkley,  "The  suspended  bell  of 


302  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Japan  gives  forth  a  voice  of  the  most  exquisite  sweetness  and 
harmony  —  a  voice  that  enhances  the  lovely  landscapes 
and  seascapes,  across  which  the  sweet  solemn  notes  come 
floating  on  Autumn  evenings,  and  in  the  stillness  of  Sum- 
mer's noonday  hazes.  The  song  of  the  bell  can  never  be 
forgotten  by  those  that  have  once  heard  it.  Their  notes 
seem  to  have  been  born  amid  the  eternal  restfulness  of  the 
Buddhist  paradise,  and  to  have  gathered,  on  their  way  to 
human  ears,  echoes  of  the  sadness  that  prepares  the  soul  for 

TV"'''  -  " 

J\  irvana. 

Japanese  poetry,  to  continue  the  Hegelian  order  of  the 
arts,  also  shows  the  influence  of  Buddhism.  It  may  be 
difBcult  to  prove  that  the  form  of  poetry  has  been  much  in- 
fluenced but  its  contents  reflects  every  aspect  of  Buddhist 
thoughts  and  ideals.  This  is  peculiarly  true  of  the  short 
stanzas  called  Tanka,  consisting  of  not  more  than  five  lines 
and  thirty-one  syllables,  and  still  more  of  the  Hokku,  consist- 
ing of  only  seventeen  syllables.  These  short  poems  are 
really  more  like  epigrams  and  so  are  apt  vehicles  of  sentiments 
too  deep  for  thought,  or  ideals  too  lofty  for  many  words. 
The  favorite  subject  matter  of  these  short  poems  are  "the 
flowers,  the  birds,  the  snow,  the  moon,  the  falling  leaves  in 
autumn,  the  mist  on  the  mountains  .  .  .  and  the  shortness 
of  human  life,"  but  the  point  of  view  from  which  these  are 
treated  is  usually  the  Buddhist.  Thus  the  favorite  cherry 
blossom  is  the  symbol  of  the  brave  knight  who  does  not 
cleave  selfishly  to  this  life;  the  moon  is  the  symbol  of  the 
change  to  which  all  things  are  subject,  the  falling  leaves  in 
Autumn  point  the  way  of  all  life,  and  the  shortness  of  hu- 
man life  is,  of  course,  an  ever-recurrent  note  in  Buddhism ; 
and  the  short  stanza  is  especially  well  suited  to  give  ex- 
pression to  a  sigh  over  life's  fleetingness.  Even  the  subject 
of  love  is  dealt  with  in  Japanese  poetry  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  Buddhist  doctrine  of  Karma.  Thus  lovers  imagine 
themselves  to  be  destined  for  each  other  because  in  their 
Karma  preexistence  they  had  loved;  and  the  conjoint 
suicides  so  popular  in  this  land  are  often  inspired  by  the 
thought  that  the  law  of  Karma  will  bring  the  lovers  to- 


BUDDHISM'S  CONTRIBUTION  303 

gether  in  a  future  existence  under  more  favorable  conditions 
than  the  present. 

Then  a  form  of  poetry  which  is  distinctively  Buddhist  is 
the  Wasan  or  Buddhist  hymn.  Though  the  Wasan  is  not 
ordinarily  ranked  very  high  as  literature,  occasionally  these 
hymns  rise  to  high  levels  and  compare  not  unfavorably  with 
our  Christian  hymns  and  songs. 

But  if  the  influence  of  Buddhism  on  Japanese  life  has  been 
strong  in  the  field  of  art,  it  has  been  perhaps  even  greater  in 
the  realm  of  philosophy  and  religion.  It  is  true,  of  course, 
that  it  had  to  divide  the  field  with  Shint5  and  Confucianism, 
but  largely  on  terms  laid  down  by  itself.  In  fact,  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  Shinto  would  have  survived  at  all  if  it  had 
been  opposed  by  Buddhism,  and  not  incorporated  into  it; 
for  Shinto  was  entirely  too  primitive  to  have  satisfied  much 
longer  the  growing  intelligence  of  the  Japanese.  Bud- 
dhism's victory  might  have  been  delayed  but  it  would  have 
been  inevitable.  And  Confucianism,  too,  gained  its  hold 
in  Japan  largely  because  Buddhists  propagated  it.  It  was 
fostered  by  them  because  it  supplemented  the  Buddhist 
teachings,  especially  in  the  field  of  practical  ethics.  Thus, 
as  we  have  said,  both  Shinto  and  Confucianism  had  their 
place  in  Japanese  life  largely  on  terms  laid  down  by  Bud- 
dhism. This,  of  course,  in  turn  affected  Buddhism  and 
made  it  quite  different  in  Japan  from  what  it  was  in  other 
lands.  But  still  the  genius  of  the  religion  of  the  Japanese 
people,  especially  in  its  higher  intellectual  and  philosophical 
aspects,  has  been  for  centuries  and  still  is  to-day,  more  Bud- 
dhist than  anything  else. 

What,  then,  are  the  chief  contributions  to  the  distinctively 
religious  life  of  Japan  which  Buddhism  has  made? 

First  of  all.  Buddhism  elevated  and  enlarged  the  concep- 
tion of  the  Divine.  Shinto  w^as  a  rather  puerile  animism 
and  crude  polytheism,  and  the  Japanese  had  not  yet  ad- 
vanced to  the  idea  of  the  universal  or  the  monistic  whole. 
The  elements  of  monism  or  monotheism  found  in  present- 
day  Shinto  were  not  there  when  Buddhism  first  reached  these 
shores ;  for,  as  we  have  said  above,  not  until  Buddhism  had 


304  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

made  itself  felt  was  there  even  an  attempt  made  to  build 
up  the  various  legends  and  myths  of  the  native  religion 
into  a  connected  and  reasoned  whole.  But  it  is  the  very 
breath  of  the  philosophy  of  Mahayana  Buddhism  to  reduce 
the  plurality  of  being  to  an  all-embracing  Divine  Whole,  and 
to  regard  the  myriads  of  gods  and  individual  beings  as  in 
some  way  the  expression  of  the  All-One.  It  is  true,  of  course, 
that  in  popular  Buddhism  the  gods  of  polytheistic  Shinto 
and  other  cults  have  always  played  a  prominent  part ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  true  that  the  conception  of  the  Divine 
All  in  philosophic  Buddhism  frequently  faded  away  into 
thin  mist  or  the  "Unknowable"  of  agnosticism;  but  even 
so,  it  must  be  admitted  that  Buddhism  did  give  the  Jap- 
anese a  loftier  conception  of  the  ultimate  source  of  all  re- 
alitv  than  Shinto  had.  In  fact,  as  we  have  seen,  Amida 
Buddhism  in  particular  entertained  a  conception  of  the 
Divine  which  did  not  differ  very  far  from  the  Christian 
conception  of  God. 

Secondly,  Buddhism  greatly  enlarged  the  conception  of 
man's  destiny.  The  early  Shinto  ideal  went  very  little  be- 
yond the  conception  of  man  as  a  creature  of  sense-experi- 
ence. The  gods  were  implored  or  propitiated  in  order  that 
they  might  bestow  upon  the  suppliant  what  he  wanted  for 
a  prosperous  and  happy  existence.  And  the  happiness  of 
existence  lay  not  so  much  in  the  realm  of  an  enriched  per- 
sonality, as  in  the  realm  of  those  things  which  satisfy  the 
desires  of  the  senses.  What  lay  beyond  the  realm  of  sense 
or  the  point  in  time  when  the  sense  organs  are  dissolved  in 
death,  did  not  concern  the  early  Shintoist  so  much.  Bud- 
dhism, however,  taught  Japan  that  man's  present  life  is  but 
a  moment  of  his  existence  and  that  the  real  life  is  more  than 
the  life  of  the  body.  In  spite  of  the  doctrine  of  the  non- 
reality  of  the  self,  Buddhism  has  impressed,  through  its  doc- 
trine of  Karma,  the  thought  of  the  far-reaching  effects  of  the 
psychic  forces  in  human  life.  It  taught  the  Japanese  to 
think  of  all  things  siih  specie  (Eternitatis  and  to  regard  es- 
pecially the  individual  human  life  in  i^s  relationship  to  the 
past  and  the  future.     Thus  it  both  minimized  and  mag- 


BUDDHISM'S  CONTRIBUTION      '  305 

nified  the  place  of  man  in  the  universe.  It  minimized  man 
in  that  it  exhibited  him  as  but  a  fragment  of  the  Whole. 
But  it  also  magnified  human  life  in  that  it  showed  that 
however  small  this  fragment  might  be  its  destiny  is  wrapped 
up  with  the  destiny  of  the  Great  All,  To  be  sure,  Buddhism 
did  not  always  have  a  very  clear  idea  as  to  what  this  des- 
tiny might  be,  and  often  it  seemed  to  be  the  destiny  of  Vacu- 
ity, but  occasionally  at  least  it  held  out  to  man  a  hope  of  a 
future  life  which  was  truly  inspiring.  And  even  in  quar- 
ters where  the  hope  of  a  larger  future  was  not  emphasized, 
or  where  it  was  left  among  the  great  uncertainties,  the 
emphasis  which  such  Buddhist  thinkers  placed  on  self-cul- 
ture carried  with  it  by  way  of  implication  the  thought  of  a 
higher  destiny ;  for  what  would  self-culture  mean  if  at  the 
end  of  the  road  lay  no  real  positive  goal  ?  That  is,  the 
schools  in  Japanese  Buddhism  which  apparently  denied 
the  future  life,  after  all,  held  out  some  sort  of  desired  future 
to  the  individual  and  so  ennobled  the  conception  of  man's 
destiny. 

A  third  great  contribution  which  Buddhism  made  to  the 
religious  life  of  Japan  is  the  conception,  or  conceptions,  re- 
garding the  way  by  which  man  can  reach  his  higher  destiny. 
Whatever  have  been  the  perversions  of  these  conceptions  — 
and  they  have  been  gross  and  many  in  popular  Buddhism 
—  the  higher  Buddhism  has  always  insisted  that  it  must  be 
by  way  of  obedience  to  the  truth.  Man  must  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  set  him  free  from  the  bondages  of 
his  little  self  into  the  liberty  of  the  greater  Something.  The 
doctrine  of  Karma,  which  runs  all  through  Buddhist  thought, 
on  its  better  side  means  that  this  universe  is  under  law.  To 
know  this  law  is  to  know  the  truth,  and  to  obey  the  truth  is 
to  become  superior  to  the  law,  or  rather  to  direct  the  oper- 
ations of  the  inexorable  law  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  man 
into  a  better  and  fuller  life.  Even  the  schools  which  teach 
the  doctrine  of  salvation  through  faith  in  Amida  do  not  deny 
the  necessity  of  obedience  to  the  law  of  Karma,  only  they 
hold  that  the  obedience  was  rendered  once  and  for  all  by 
Amida,     Thus  as  we  have  said,  whatever  perversions  there 


306  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

have  been  in  popular  Buddhism,  and  whatever  superstitious 
practices  of  magic  the  ignorant  masses  may  indulge  in,  the 
higher  side  of  Buddhism  has  always  stood  for  the  conception 
of  a  universe  of  rational  laws  which  man  must  obey  if  he  would 
advance  into  a  larger  and  nobler  life. 

This  thought  of  obedience  to  the  truth  naturally  leads 
us  to  the  moral  and  ethical  side  of  the  religious  life.  We  saw 
in  the  preceding  chapter  what  the  moral  ideals  of  Buddhism 
are.  There  may  be  nothing  distinctive  in  these  ethical 
teachings  when  compared  with  the  ethics  of  other  advanced 
religions.  But  when  seen  in  the  light  of  Shint5  ethics  — 
if  it  is  possible  to  speak  of  such  a  thing  —  it  will  be  realized 
what  a  great  contribution  Buddhism  has  made.  And 
when  it  is  further  remembered  that  Buddhist  priests  were 
largely  the  medium  through  which  Confucian  ethics  were 
made  known  in  this  land,  we  will  have  to  say  that  practi- 
cally all  the  moral  training  which  the  people  of  Japan  have 
had  up  to  the  modern  period  they  owe  either  directly  or 
indirectly  to  Buddhism. 

Not  only  did  Buddhism  influence  the  thought  side  of  re- 
ligion and  the  practical  working  out  of  this  in  ethical  con- 
duct, but  also  in  the  less  important  side  of  the  outer  trappings 
of  religion  did  it  exert  a  great  influence.  One  reason  why 
Buddhism  appealed  to  the  ancient  Japanese  was  the  fact 
that  it  had  much  more  elaborate  and  impressive  outward 
settings  than  their  native  religion  had.  It  brought  with  it 
images,  statues,  pictures,  bells,  incense  and  all  that  goes  to 
make  an  impressive  ritual ;  and,  in  the  course  of  time,  it 
developed  in  Japan  a  complex  ecclesiastical  machinery.  So 
rich  in  these  outward  things  is  Buddhism  that  even  a  Roman 
Catholic  might  feel  perfectly  at  home  in  these  surroundings. 
A  few  years  ago  a  writer  in  one  of  the  leading  Christian 
papers  made  a  comparison  between  Buddhism  and  Ca- 
tholicism, and  he  showed  over  thirty  points  in  which  the  two 
were  in  agreement  in  these  externals  of  religion.  It  is  not 
strange  that  when  Xavier  and  his  fellow  workers  came  to 
Japan  they  were  regarded  at  first  by  the  Buddhist  priests 
as  but  one  more  sect  of  their  own  religion. 


PRESENT-DAY  BUDDHISM  307 

Such,  then,  are  some  of  the  main  influences  which  Bud- 
dhism has  exerted  upon  the  hfe  of  the  people  of  Japan,  In 
some  fields  these  have  been  so  determining  that  of  the  major 
Asiatic  states  Japan  is  most  Buddhist,  and  certainly  in  no 
other  land  has  Buddhism  so  much  to  its  credit.  It  has  been 
the  dominant  religion  in  this  land  for  about  a  thousand  years, 
and  during  that  time  Buddhism  has  developed  aspects  which 
make  it  more  nearly  an  adequate  religion  for  an  advanced 
people  than  the  forms  it  has  taken  in  other  Asiatic  coun- 
tries. That  is  to  say.  Buddhism  has  not  only  exerted  a  great 
influence  on  Japan,  but  the  Japanese  genius  has  also  in  turn 
impressed  itself  upon  Buddhism. 

But  after  we  have  said  this  much  about  the  influence  which 
the  religion  of  Buddha  has  exerted  upon  Japanese  life  in  the 
past,  we  must  now  come  to  the  question  as  to  what  place 
it  has  in  present-day  Japan,  and  then  the  still  more  diflBcult 
question  as  to  what  its  place  will  probably  be  in  the  future, 
for  no  one  is  more  ready  to  admit  than  educated  Buddhists 
themselves  that  a  new  day  has  arisen  for  the  old  religions 
of  this  people,  and  that,  though  the  past  may  have  belonged 
to  Buddhism,  the  present  and  especially  the  future  are 
problematic. 

B.    The  Place  of  Buddhism  in  Present-day  Japan 

The  Japanese  saying  that  "what  goes  before  becomes 
master"  gives  us  in  part  the  clue  to  this  question.  The  fact 
that  Buddhism  has  dominated  the  life  of  Japan  in  the  past 
means  that  the  present,  too,  belongs  largely  to  it  in  spite  of 
the  outward  appearances  to  the  contrary ;  for  as  has  been 
pointed  out  in  the  introductory  remarks,  a  nation  cannot 
suddenly  cast  off  its  old  religions  as  a  worn-out  garment ; 
and  even  this  rising  generation  of  Japanese,  which  laughs 
at  the  superstitions  and  beliefs  of  its  fathers  and  glibly  denies 
that  it  is  Buddhist,  after  all,  breathes  the  Buddhist  atmos- 
phere much  more  than  it  realizes.  By  this  we  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  Buddhism  has  not  lost  much  ground  in  the 
modern  period  and  that  there  are  not  forces  at  work  now 
which  seem  destined  ultimately  to  undermine  the  old  f  ounda- 


308  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

tions  of  the  religion  of  the  Buddha  in  this  land.  We  simply 
wish  to  express  it  as  our  conviction  that  present-day  Japan 
still  belongs  largely  to  the  religion  of  the  Buddha ;  or  if  not 
to  the  religion  which  the  Buddha  proclaimed,  at  least  to  the 
religious  complex  which  looks  to  him  as  its  founder. 

Perhaps  the  simplest  way  to  answer  this  question  as  to 
what  place  Buddhism  has  in  modern  Japan  is  to  ask  the 
reader  to  keep  in  mind  what  we  have  said  in  the  preceding 
section  as  to  its  place  in  the  past  and  here  show  simply  to 
what  extent  Buddhism  has  lost  this  place. 

We  have  already  given  in  the  latter  part -of  Chapter  III 
a  partial  statement  of  the  situation,  and  what  we  give  here 
is  to  be  regarded  as  supplementary.  The  great  fact  to 
remember  is  that  the  whole  movement,  w^hich  prepared  the 
way  for  the  Restoration  in  1868  and  all  that  this  implied 
and  brought  with  it,  was  from  the  beginning  not  a  move- 
ment of  the  Buddhists  but  rather  of  the  Xeo-Confucianists 
and  Neo-Shintoists.  To  be  sure,  both  Neo-Confucianism 
and  Neo-Shinto  owed  much  to  Buddhism,  but  when  these 
reached  the  self-conscious  stage  they  drew  their  main  strength 
from  the  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  latter.  It  is  not  strange, 
therefore,  that  when  this  movement  was  crowned  with  suc- 
cess Buddhism  was  disestablished  as  a  state  religion  and  the 
Buddhist  priests,  who  for  centuries  had  basked  in  the  sun- 
shine of  Government  favor,  were  thrown  out  into  the  cold 
and  forced  to  shift  for  themselves.  Not  only  was  Buddhism 
disestablished  as  a  state  religion,  but  there  was  even  an  at- 
tempt made  to  suppress  it  altogether.  Many  temples  were 
denuded  of  their  precious  statues  and  decorations,  the 
priests  were  evicted  and  forbidden  to  propagate  their  teach- 
ings. These  drastic  and  high-handed  measures  were,  of 
course,  doomed  to  fail,  for  Japan  was  too  thoroughly  devoted 
to  its  past.  After  a  few  years  of  mild  persecution  the  priests 
were  allowed  to  keep  their  ecclesiastical  organization  and 
propagate  their  views,  but  they  were  compelled  to  stand  on 
their  own  feet  and  to  work  under  certain  limitations. 

This  apparent  hard  fate  was,  however,  not  an  unmixed  evil, 
for  it  served  to  waken  at  least  the  leaders  from  the  lethargy 


PRESENT-DAY  BUDDHISM  309 

which  had  befallen  not  only  them  but  the  whole  Buddhist 
world  of  Japan.  Early  in  the  seventies  signs  of  new  life 
began  to  manifest  themselves,  and  a  spirit  of  union  among 
the  various  sects  arose.  This  was  further  quickened  by  the 
impact  of  Western  civilization  w^hich  from  that  time  on 
poured  into  Japan.  At  first  this  influx  was  met  with  a  spirit 
of  opposition  by  the  old-time  leaders.  Not  only  did  they 
stand  against  Christianity  but  also  against  Western  science 
and  philosophy.  Especially  was  this  true  in  the  early 
eighties,  when  the  Japanese  official  world  seemed  to  swallow 
wholesale  everything  that  came  from  abroad.  But  as  the 
Buddhist  leaders  became  better  acquainted  with  Western 
thought,  and  especially  when  they  perceived  that  in  the 
West  itself  there  was  a  keen  conflict  between  ■  the  newer 
philosophies  based  upon  Darwinian  evolution  and  Chris- 
tianity they  soon  sought  to  form  an  alliance  with  Western 
science  and  use  it  as  their  chief  weapon  against  the  religion 
of  the  West.  As  the  time  went  on  this  union  between  pro- 
gressive Buddhists  and  certain  schools  of  Western  philosophy 
became  closer  and  closer  and  the  teachings  of  Buddhism 
were  restated  in  such  a  way  as  to  appear  that  parts  of  the 
Kantian  philosophy,  the  Hegelian  dialectics,  Spencerian  ag- 
nosticism, etc.,  were  but  Western  forms  of  the  cardinal  ele- 
ments of  Buddhism.  In  short,  the  progressive  Buddhist 
used  from  Western  philosophy  and  science  what  suited  his 
purpose  to  fight  the  religion  of  the  West. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  eighties  and  early  in  the  nineties 
came  the  reaction  against  everything  Western,  and  the  con- 
servative Buddhists  sought  to  profit  by  this.  They  were 
loudest  among  those  who  pointed  out  the  self-sufficiency 
of  everything  Japanese.  Did  not  Buddhist  thought  ante- 
date the  highest  development  of  Western  science  and  phi- 
losophy by  centuries  ?  Why,  then,  should  Japan  learn  from 
the  West  ?  So  strong  was  this  movement  for  exalting  every- 
thing Japanese  that  some  Buddhists  were  quite  ready  to 
forget  their  differences  with  the  Shintoists  and  Confucianists 
at  whose  hands  they  had  suffered  so  recently,  and  unite 
with  them  in  one  "Great  Way"  of  things  Japanese.    The 


310  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE    BUDDHISM 

motto  of  a  leading  Buddhist,  "Defense  of  the  country  and 
love  for  the  truth,"  crystallizes  this  spirit  in  a  sentence. 
For  a  while  the  conservatives  had  their  way  but  Japan  had, 
after  all,  put  too  much  of  the  new  wine  into  the  old  wine 
skins.  They  had  to  burst ;  or  rather  some  of  them  have 
burst  and  others  will  do  so  as  the  new  wine  continues  to 
ferment.  Not  only  is  this  true  in  the  general  field  of  educa- 
tion and  politics  but  also  in  the  field  of  religion.  The  stu- 
dents who  studied  abroad  in  the  eighties  and  nineties  are 
now  the  leaders  in  the  thought  life  of  Japan.  They  are  im- 
bued with  the  scientific  spirit  and  devoted  to  the  historico- 
critical  method.  The  Neo-Confucianists  and  Xeo-Shintoists 
had  begun  to  use  this  method  and  this  had  led  to  the  Res- 
toration and  an  attack  upon  Buddhism  as  a  foreign  religion. 
But  now  this  deadly  weapon,  in  a  more  perfect  form,  is  being 
used  by  the  more  advanced  Buddhists  themselves  and  the 
results  are  beginning  to  show.  Just  what  the  results  will 
be  in  the  long  run  is  hard  to  tell,  but  the  first  effect  of  a 
wide  application  of  this  method  is  bound  to  give  a  tremendous 
shock  to  the  ordinary  claims  of  Japanese  Buddhists.  It  is 
bound  to  show  that  the  whole  fabric  of  Japanese  Buddhism 
cannot  possibly  stand  as  a  consistent  whole,  and  certainly 
not  as  all  being  either  the  direct  or  indirect  teaching  of  the 
founder  of  Buddhism.  It  is  nine  tenths  historical  develop- 
ment, and  in  many  of  its  cardinal  points  this  development 
runs  counter  to  the  teachings  of  S'akyamuni.  To  be  sure, 
these  views  are  not  very  widespread  yet  and  the  great  masses 
of  the  uneducated  do  not  question  the  authority  of  the 
priests,  but  every  year's  work  of  Japan's  great  educational 
system  is  bound  to  help  undermine  the  present  basis  of  Bud- 
dhism in  Japan. 

While  the  advanced  Buddhist  scholars  are  occupied  with 
the  perplexing  problems  raised  by  modern  thought  and 
methods,  the  common  Buddhist  is  left  to  go  his  own  way. 
On  the  one  hand  he  is  being  taught  in  the  public  schools  the 
new  learning  of  the  West,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  great 
hordes  of  ignorant  priests  seek  to  continue  to  rivet  upon 
him  all  the  superstitions  and  worn-out  forms  of   the  past. 


PRESENT-DAY  BUDDHISM  311 

Very  little  has  been  done  by  Buddhists  to  bridge  effectively 
the  chasm  between  the  old  and  the  new.  The  result  is  dis- 
astrous. The  old  women  in  the  country  and  some  of  the 
old  men  are  still  earnest  followers  of  things  as  they  were. 
The  younger  generation,  though  nominally  Buddhist,  is 
utterly  ignorant  of  and  indifferent  to  the  religion  of  their 
fathers.  The  interest  they  have  in  the  temples  of  their  neigh- 
borhood does  not  usually  extend  beyond  the  occasional  fes- 
tival and  street  fair  held  in  the  temple  precincts.  And,  of 
course,  as  all  men  must  die,  and  the  priests  have  the  mon- 
opoly on  funerals,  even  the  indifferent  youth  of  to-day  must 
occasionally  have  their  attention  directed  to  things  which 
transcend  temporal  interests.  This  indifference  to  Buddhism 
so  characteristic  of  the  rising  generation  does  not  mean  that 
there  is  not  still  a  strong  unconscious  mfluence  exerted  by  it 
upon  young  Japan,  but  only  that  young  Japan  does  not 
consciously  and  with  zeal  identify  itself  with  the  religion  of 
the  Buddha.  Rather  is  the  present  generation,  especially 
the  illiterate  class,  turning  to  the  old  religion  of  Japan,  i.e. 
Shinto  in  the  form  of  such  new  sects  as  Tenrikyo,  which 
counts  its  adherents  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands.  It  is 
true,  of  course,  that  Tenrikyo  and  the  other  popular  Shinto 
sects  are  as  much  Buddhism  as  Shinto,  but  they  regard 
themselves  as  pure  Shinto  and  rather  emphasize  their  dif- 
ference from  Buddhism.  At  any  rate,  they  are  forces  which 
in  an  increasing  manner  Buddhism  must  reckon  with  if  it 
would  continue  its  sway  over  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

This  is  beginning  to  be  recognized  by  the  more  progressive 
priests.  Not  only  are  they  being  stung  into  activity  by  their 
enthusiastic  Shinto  rivals  but  also  by  the  growing  influence 
of  Christianity,  from  which  latter  they  borrow  various 
methods  of  propaganda.  Thus  at  last  Buddhists  are  really 
making  an  effort  to  make  their  sacred  scriptures  accessible 
to  the  common  reader.  The  leading  sects  are  circulating 
what  might  be  called  "Sectarian  Bibles";  namely,  volumes 
bound  in  convenient  form  which  contain  the  chief  scriptures 
of  the  sect  with  standard  commentaries  on  the  same.  One  of 
these  published  first  in  1911  passed  through  45  reprints  in 


312  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

three  years.  Biographies  of  Buddhist  saints,  catechisms,  ex- 
positions of  Buddhist  philosophies,  essays  and  sermons  on 
various  moral  and  religious  topics  are  appearing  in  greater 
number  from  year  to  year.  Monthly  magazines  are  issued 
by  all  the  leading  sects  and  through  these  a  rather  large 
section  of  the  more  intelligent  public  is  reached.  Then 
further,  Buddhists  are  organizing  themselves  into  various 
societies  and  organizations.  Thus  we  find  Young  Men's 
Buddhist  Associations,  Women's  Buddhist  Societies,  Bud- 
dhist Sunday  Schools  and  similar  organizations  patterned 
after  Christian  models.  Thus  one  branch  of  the  Shin  Sect, 
the  Higashi  Honkwanji,  claims  to  have  over  100,000  children 
enrolled  in  680  Sunday  Schools.  Even  the  popular  summer 
schools  and  Chautauquas  have  their  counterpart  in  modern 
Buddhism.  Street  preaching  and  special  "evangelistic" 
campaigns  are  not  unheard  of.  An  increasing  number  of 
temples  are  holding  regular  preaching  services  several  times 
a  month  and  really  are  trying  to  instruct  the  people.  This 
revival  is  strongest  among  the  Zen,  Nichiren  and  Shin 
sects,  though  the  J5do  and  Shingon  are  also  being  affected, 
and  it  is  not  wholly  absent  from  the  Tendai.  The  awaken- 
ing in  the  Zen  Sect  seems  more  of  the  nature  of  a  "thing 
fashionable,"  whereas  in  the  Nichiren  and  Shin  sects  it  seems 
to  have  a  genuine  religious  basis.  Especially  in  the  latter 
is  it  sufficiently  religious  and  vigorous  to  lead  to  a  missionary 
propaganda  extending  to  outlying  portions  of  the  empire, 
to  China  and  even  to  the  Japanese  settlers  in  Western  lands. 
Another  symptom  of  new  life  is  seen  in  that  movement 
among  the  so-called  Neo-Buddhists  which  is  looking  towards 
the  union  of  all  the  sects ;  a  union  which  if  it  stops  short  of 
actual  organic  oneness,  should  at  least  result  in  one  great 
cooperative  enterprise  which  it  is  hoped  by  its  promoters 
will  make  the  religion  of  the  Buddha  once  more  a  living 
force  in  the  life  of  Japan.  This,  like  most  of  these  newer 
activities,  draws  its  chief  inspiration  from  the  union  move- 
ments in  Christian  circles,  though  it  also  owes  something 
to  those  more  enlightened  leaders  who  are  pointing  out  that 
the  numerous  divisions  of  the  past  have  lost  their  raison 


PRESENT-DAY  BUDDHISM  313 

d'etre.  A  beautiful  white  brick  structure  in  the  grounds  of 
the  famous  Asakusa  Temple  in  Tokyo  is  a  monument  to  these 
would-be  reformers,  but  any  one  visiting  those  grounds  will 
usually  find  the  doors  of  this  architectural  gem  closed,  while 
the  filthy  old  Kwannon  temple  close  by  with  its  well-worn 
idols  and  fortune-telling  priests  seems  as  popular  as  ever. 
If  it  has  lost  its  hold  on  the  hearts  of  the  people  at  all,  it  is 
because  adjacent  to  the  temple  grounds  is  Tokyo's  center 
for  the  "movies"  which  offer  to  modern  Japan  far  greater 
attractions  than  the  simple  side  shows  of  popular  temples. 
As  the  crowds  surge  back  and  forth  between  the  old  temple 
and  the  "movies"  they  pass  in  front  of  the  union  preaching 
hall  of  the  Neo-Buddhists,  but  it  hardly  receives  even  a 
glance  from  these  pleasure-seeking  pilgrims,  and  one  wonders 
whether  this  is  not  very  much  the  attitude  of  the  rising 
generation  towards  all  these  efforts  among  Buddhist  re- 
formers. At  any  rate,  is  it  true  that  thus  far  they  have  not 
succeeded  in  raising  up  a  body  of  intelligent  followers  con- 
scious of  their  mission  as  a  constructive  force  in  the  life  of 
modern  Japan.  Rather  is  it  true,  as  one  of  the  older  Bud- 
dhist scholars  has  recently  said,  that  these  Neo-Buddhists 
and  would-be  reformers  are  loud  in  what  they  are  goiiig  to 
do,  but  thus  far  they  have  only  torn  down  the  old,  and 
have  accomplished  nothing  along  constructive  lines.  It 
still  remains  true  in  spite  of  all  these  activities  that  the 
average  Buddhist  believer  belongs  to  the  most  ignorant 
sections  of  society,  and  that  he  is  also  shockingly  ignorant 
even  in  matters  of  the  religion  he  professes. 

When,  therefore,  one  would  measure  in  a  few  words  the 
place  which  Buddhism  occupies  in  the  life  of  modern  Japan, 
the  conclusion  seems  inevitable  that  while  its  hold  on  the 
ignorant  masses  is  still  very  strong,  especially  in  the  more 
backward  parts  of  the  empire,  it  does  not  occupy  a  very  con- 
spicuous place  among  the  forces  which  are  making  for  prog- 
ress. No  one  in  Japan  would  think  of  looking  to  the  Bud- 
dhists for  leadership.  As  a  matter  of  fact  Buddhist  priests, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  are  notoriously  behind  "in  educa- 
tion, character,  morals  and  influence."     That  is,  they  are 


314  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

unfit  as  leaders,  not  only  in  secular  matters,  but  also  in  things 
which  make  for  individual  and  social  uprightness.  One 
cannot  but  be  impressed  with  the  contrast  between  the 
present-day  situation  and  the  early  days  of  Buddhism  in 
Japan  when  the  Buddhist  priests  and  monks  were  the  apos- 
tles of  the  superior  civilization  of  China,  or  the  days  of  the 
great  religious  awakening  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 
turies when  Japan  had  religious  leaders  of  real  power  and 
influence.  To-day  the  leadership  is  in  other  hands.  The 
apostles  of  the  new  civilization  of  the  West  are,  as  a  rule, 
those  on  whom  Buddhism  has  the  lightest  hold,  and  the 
leaders  in  the  realm  of  things  spiritual  are  decidedly  those 
who  have  drunk  most  deeply  from  the  fountains  of  Chris- 
tianity. Almost  every  movement  of  any  consequence  in 
Japan  to-day  which  is  making  for  individual  and  social  right- 
eousness has  Christian  men  and  women  as  its  leaders.  The 
best  that  can  be  said  for  the  Buddhists  is  that  they  occa- 
sionally attempt  to  imitate  these  movements,  but  an  imita- 
tion is  seldom  equal  to  the  real  thing.  The  truth  of  the 
matter  is  that  the  great  days  of  Buddhism  in  Japan,  the 
days  when  its  power  and  influence  counted  for  progress,  lie 
in  the  distant  past.  The  present,  and  even  more  the  future, 
belong  to  others.  But  this  brings  us  to  the  third  aspect  of 
our  subject,  viz.,  the  question  as  to  what  place  Buddhism 
will  probably  occupy  in  the  future  in  Japanese  life. 

C.    The  Place  of  Buddhism  in  the  Future 

Just  what  place  Buddhism  will  occupy  in  the  future  is 
even  more  difficult  to  determine  than  what  place  it  holds 
to-day.  We  shall  try  to  answer  the  question  more  from  the 
standpoint  of  its  adequacy  as  a  religion  of  the  future  than 
speculating  as  to  what  place  it  will  really  hold.  Only  the 
future  can  answer  the  latter  question,  for  it  does  not  at  all 
follow  that  though  Buddhism  is  inadequate  as  a  religion, 
it  may  not  dominate  the  life  of  Japan  for  decades  and  even 
centuries.  We  can  only  point  out  why  it  is  not  an  adequate 
religion  for  the  highest  development  of  Japanese  life. 


BUDDHISM  AND  THE  FUTURE  315 

One  of  the  striking  differences  between  Japanese  Buddhists 
and  Japanese  Christians  is  their  attitude  towards  the  future. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  real  Christian  in  Japan  who 
does  not  hope  and  believe  that  Japan  will  some  day  be  a 
Christian  land.  However  small  the  mustard  seed  may  be 
it  will  some  day  grow  into  a  large  plant  and  give  shelter. 
The  leaven  will  ultimately  leaven  the  whole  lump.  In  short, 
the  Christians  of  Japan  have  absolute  confidence  in  the 
future  of  their  religion,  and  it  is  this  faith  that  overcomes 
the  world. 

Among  Japanese  Buddhists  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  such 
confidence  in  their  own  future.  There  are  many  Buddhist 
parents  to-day  who,  though  clinging  to  their  old  faith,  have 
little  hope  that  their  children  will  do  the  same.  They 
vaguely  feel  that  "the  old  order  changeth,  yielding  place  to" 
what  they  know  not.  This  lack  of  confidence  has  been  in- 
creased in  recent  years  by  the  discovery  that  those  very  sects 
which  have  shown  the  most  marked  symptoms  of  revival 
have  been  almost  made  bankrupt  by  the  dishonesty  of  their 
leaders.  And  rightly  does  the  anxious  believer  conclude  that 
"  if  they  do  these  things  in  a  green  tree,  what  shall  be  done  in 
the  dry?" 

It  is,  of  course,  true  that  some  Buddhists  have  confidence 
in  the  future  of  their  religion,  but  it  is  not  a  widespread 
characteristic.  In  fact,  even  the  optimists  hope  for  little 
more  than  that  the  future  will  be  as  the  past  in  which  Bud- 
dhism divided  the  field  with  others  and  by  clever  compro- 
mises maintained  its  dominance.  There  is  a  growing  num- 
ber among  the  liberals  who  would  unite  Buddhism  with  other 
religions  and  make  one  new  and  all-inclusive  system.  That 
is,  they  are  not  looking  for  a  reformed  Buddhism,  a  Neo- 
Buddhism,  but  for  a  new  religion  in  which  the  Buddhist 
elements  shall  be,  perhaps,  the  most  prominent. 

But  if  Japanese  Buddhists  themselves  have  little  confidence 
in  the  future  of  their  OAvn  religion,  there  are  good  reasons 
for  it.  A  statement  of  these  reasons  is  virtually  an  answer 
to  the  question.  What  are  the  great  defects  in  Japanese  Bud- 
dhism which  make  it  inadequate  as  the  religion  of  the  future  ? 


316  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

Before  answering  this  most  interesting  of  all  questions  from 
our  own  Christian  standpoint,  we  shall  give  what  is  at  least 
a  partial  answer  made  not  long  ago  by  one  of  Japan's  most 
enlightened  thinkers ;  namely,  Professor  Inouye  Tetsujiro  of 
the  Tokyo  Imperial  University.  Writing  on  the  subject 
of  Religious  Reform  in  Japan,  and  especially  on  the  need  of 
reform  in  Buddhism,  this  learned  author  points  out  what 
he  considers  the  great  defects  in  this  religion. 

The  first  outstanding  defect  is  the  character  of  the  priests. 
"Buddhist  priests,  in  spite  of  a  few  notable  and  brilliant 
exceptions,  which  however  only  serve  to  make  the  general 
darkness  more  visible,  are  behind  the  rest  of  the  world  in 
education,  character,  morals  and  influence ;  and  though 
Christian  rivalry  has  stirred  some  of  them  to  emulation  in 
educational  and  charitable  enterprises  of  recent  years,  these 
works  of  charity  have  been  far  from  vigorous."  That  this 
adverse  judgment  is  not  an  overstatement  of  the  case  is 
clear  to  any  careful  student.  In  fact  many  Japanese  wri- 
ters express  themselves  with  less  restraint  when  dealing  with 
this  subject.  One  naturally  wonders  what  future  a  religion 
can  have  when  its  leaders  are  behind  those  whom  they  seek 
to  lead. 

The  second  reform  needed  according  to  Professor  Inouye  is 
the  abolishing  of  idols,  and  the  substitution  of  the  Japanese 
language  for  the  unintelligible  Sanskrit  and  Chinese  in  the 
Buddhist  ritual  and  scriptures.  Idols  may  have  had  their 
place  in  the  past,  says  this  critic,  but  the  modern  Japanese 
ought  to  be  beyond  these  crude  representations  of  the  Di- 
vine. And  equally  important  is  "the  abolition  of  the  prac- 
tice of  reading  and  chanting  the  sutras  in  a  language  which, 
practically,  neither  the  priests  nor  the  congregation  under- 
stand." It  is  true  that  modern  Japan  should  be  beyond 
these  crutches  of  religion,  but  popular  Buddhism  is  still  so 
bound  up  with  idolatry  that  the  abolition  of  idols  would 
mean  to  many  the  giving  up  of  their  gods.  Not  that  the 
idols  should  not  be  abolished,  but  that  it  must  be  accompanied 
by  a  constructive  work.  The  substitution  of  Japanese  for 
the  unintelligible  Chinese  is  finally  being  tried,  but  Jap- 


BUDDHISM  AND   THE   FUTURE  317 

anese  Buddhism  has  a  long  way  to  go  before  it  can  make 
up  for  the  neglect  in  the  past. 

The  third  great  defect  pointed  out  by  Professor  Inouye  is 
even  more  serious,  and  if  the  reform  suggested  by  him  were 
carried  out,  it  would  not  leave  enough  of  the  Buddhist  ele- 
ments in  the  reformed  religion  to  enable  even  a  Bodhisattva 
to  recognize  it  as  Buddhism.  The  proposal  is  so  naive  that 
we  must  give  the  full  text  on  this  point.  "The  pessimism 
of  India,  which  is  of  the  essence  of  Japanese  Buddhism,  is 
not  suited  to  our  needs.  Pessimism  is  the  creed  of  a  de- 
caying nationality  in  the  hour  of  adversity,  when  this  world 
looks  dark  and  life  has  no  hope  to  offer  us.  Then  in  despair, 
we  turn  from  this  miserable  world,  and  seek  comfort  in  the 
hope  of  something  better  after  death.  In  ancient  India 
pessimism  was  perhaps  natural,  but  pessimism  can  never 
raise  a  nation  to  a  higher  life,  and  what  Japan,  with  its  new 
hopes  and  aspirations,  requires  is  a  religion  of  hope,  full  of 
noble  ideals  and  aspirations.  Buddhism  must  shed  its  pes- 
simism or  lose  its  hold  on  the  people."  This  may  not  be  a 
new  estimate  of  the  spirit  of  Buddhism  but  it  is  a  true  one. 
It  is  in  the  last  analysis  a  philosoph}^  of  defeat,  and  there- 
fore cannot  satisfy  the  "hopes  and  aspirations"  of  an  awak- 
ened nation.  But  when  the  suggestion  is  made  that  "  Bud- 
dhism must  shed  its  pessimism  or  lose  its  hold  on  the  people," 
one  wonders  how  a  professor  of  philosophy  in  a  great  uni- 
versity could  think  out  anything  so  naive.  For  Buddhism 
to  "shed  its  pessimism"  is  not  like  a  snake  shedding  its  skin 
but  rather  like  shedding  its  backbone.  It  is  like  the  night 
shedding  its  darkness,  for  just  as  the  night  ceases  to  be  night 
when  the  darkness  is  gone,  so  Buddhism  without  its  pes- 
simistic spirit  would  no  longer  be  Buddhism.  To  be  sure, 
the  night  sheds  some  of  its  darkness  when  the  moon  shines 
with  its  light  borrowed  from  the  sovereign  of  eternal  day, 
and  so  Buddhism,  in  the  future,  may  illumine  its  pessimism 
by  borrowing  elements  of  "hope  and  aspirations"  from 
sources  other  than  its  own.  But  for  it  really  to  "shed  its 
pessimism"  and  for  it  to  become  "a  religion  of  hope,  full  of 
noble  ideals  and  aspirations"  seems  impossible  without  be- 


318  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

coming  a  religion  fundamentally  different  from  what  it  is 
and  has  been. 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  Japanese  Buddhism  has  tried  to 
shed  the  pessimistic  philosophy  of  India,  and  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Amidaism  with  its  semi-theistic  God-idea  it  has  in 
a  measure  laid  hold  on  elements  of  hope  and  aspiration; 
but,  after  all,  this  reaching  out  for  the  living  God  has  always 
been  hindered  by  the  agnostic  philosopher  who  reduces 
Amida  and  his  salvation  to  mere  ideals  which  have  no  real 
ontological  reference.  And  furthermore,  just  in  propor- 
tion as  Buddhism  has  succeeded  in  shedding  its  pessimism 
it  has  departed  from  the  religion  of  the  founder.  If  it  is 
ever  to  shed  its  pessimism  entirely,  and  become  truly  a  re- 
ligion of  hope  and  aspiration  suited  for  an  awakened  people, 
it  will  have  to  cease  being  Buddhism  in  its  cardinal  elements, 
whatever  name  may  be  attached  to  it.  Of  course  the  Bud- 
dhist might  say  that  such  a  change  would  be  a  "developed 
Buddhism."  That  might  be  so,  but  would  it  not  be  more 
correct  to  say  that  it  w^ould  be  a  new  religion  rather  than  a 
"developed  Buddhism "  ?  The  generic  elements  of  a  religion 
may  undergo  some  outward  changes,  and  the  religion  re- 
main essentially  the  same,  but  for  a  religion  to  abandon  its 
generic  elements  and  build  itself  upon  others  is  really  to  be- 
come a  new"  religion  even  though  the  old  name  be  continued. 

The  fourth  reform  suggested  by  the  above-mentioned 
critic  is  equally  sweeping  and  would  leave  very  little  of  the 
old  if  carried  out.  To  give  his  own  words,  "There  are 
countless  superstitions  in  Buddhism,  practices  and  doc- 
trines which  the  ignorant  accept  blindly  and  the  educated 
laugh  at.  We  will  take  but  one  instance,  that  of  Shumisen, 
the  fabulous  mountain  which  Buddhist  cosmology  places 
at  the  center  of  the  w^orld.  We  might  mention  others, 
transmigration,  the  six  spheres  of  sentient  existence,  Para- 
dise, Hades,  the  innumerable  Buddhas  and  Bodhisattvas. 
The  world  has  progressed  since  the  days  of  S'akyamuni,  still 
more  so  perhaps  since  the  days  when  the  Mahayana  sutras 
were  written.  Can  we  of  the  Meiji  period  (this  was  written 
at  the  close  of  the  Meiji  era),  with  our  modern  education  in 


BUDDHISM  AND  THE  FUTURE  319 

the  principles  of  science,  be  expected  to  accept  these  anti- 
quated superstitions?" 

The  fifth  defect  in  Japanese  Buddhism  pointed  out  by  Pro- 
fessor Inouye  refers  to  Buddhist  ethics.  He  points  out  that 
the  ethical  ideals  of  Buddhism  are  those  held  in  India  over 
two  thousand  years  ago,  "  and  the  men  who  live  by  them  unfit 
themselves  to  become  the  ethical  teachers  of  a  modern,  com- 
mercial and  industrial  generation  of  men.  Japan  wants  a 
system  of  religious  morals,  but  it  must  be  one  suited  to  her 
present  needs.  Buddhists  may  yet  be  the  moral  teachers  of 
this  nation,  if  they  will  bring  their  ethical  system  into  har- 
mony with  present-day  needs."  But,  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out  in  Chapter  VI,  the  philosophical  basis  of  Bud- 
dhist ethics  is  inadequate  for  a  real  vital  moral  life.  On  the 
one  hand  the  spirit  of  agnosticism  which  is  the  dominant 
current  in  all  Buddhist  thought  forever  cuts  the  nerve  of 
any  vigorous  morality  in  that  it  makes  good  and  evil,  right 
and  wrong  but  mere  "practical  differences"  which,  however, 
have  no  basis  in  reality.  A  mere  "practical  difference" 
which  is  not  a  real  difference  is  in  the  last  analysis  vicious 
and  anything  but  practical  in  the  long  run.  It  may  be 
practical  for  me  to  lie,  and  tell  the  truth  at  another  time, 
but  unless  my  truthfulness  is  based  on  something  more 
firm  than  on  what  seems  merely  practical  it  will  fail  to  be 
even  that,  for  surely  no  one  could  be  expected  to  put  much 
confidence  in  my  w^ords  if  convenience,  or  the  merely  practical, 
were  the  measure  of  my  veracity.  And  further,  Buddhist 
psychology  runs  absolutely  counter  to  the  higher  ethical 
ideals,  as  we  also  pointed  out  in  Chapter  VI.  Buddhist 
psychology  has  ever  asserted  that  the  self  has  no  real  exist- 
ence and  it  has  contented  itself  with  a  "provisional  self," 
and  yet  Buddhist  ethics  claims  as  its  highest  goal  the  "in- 
tellectual and  moral  development  of  the  personality." 
Surely  for  one  to  strive  to  achieve  a  goal  w^iich  one  knows 
to  be  an  illusion  is  the  grossest  sort  of  folly.  It  is  no  wonder 
if  the  followers  of  such  an  ideal  should  be  found  rather  in- 
different in  their  pursuit.  No,  if  Buddhists  would  "bring 
their  ethical  system  into  harmony  with  present-day  needs," 


320  STUDIES   IN  JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

as  Professor  Inouye  suggests,  they  will  have  to  do  more  than 
make  simply  a  few  alterations  here  and  there.  They  will  have 
to  change  above  all  else  the  basis  of  their  ethical  system. 

Surely  if  Buddhism  is  what  the  above-mentionetl  critic 
says  it  is,  and  if  it  has  these  great  defects,  there  is  not  only 
a  need  of  reform,  but  there  is  need  of  a  revolution  in  the 
very  fundamentals;  and  this  when  accomplished  would 
mean  practically  a  new  religion,  no  matter  what  its  name 
might  be.  Can  this  change  be  made,  and  has  modern 
Buddhism  sufficient  vitality  to  attempt  the  undertaking? 
It  is  one  thing  to  recognize  the  defects,  but  quite  another  to 
overcome  them.  If  Japan  needs,  e.g.  "  a  system  of  religious 
morals"  suited  to  her  present  needs,  and  Buddhism  has  not 
such  a  system,  can  it  set  to  work  to  evolve  one?  Can  it 
create  a  vital  ethical  system  which  will  give  the  coming 
generation  that  moral  stamina  so  much  needed?  Can  this 
be  done  by  a  religion  which  has  never  given  the  human 
personality  its  proper  place  and  whose  spirit  of  pessimism 
forever  cuts  the  nerve  of  aspiration  and  achievement? 

But  these  defects  in  Japanese  Buddhism  pointed  out  above 
are  not  the  only  ones  which  in  our  judgment  prevent  it 
from  being  an  adequate  religion.  When  we  say  this  we  are  not 
contradicting  what  we  have  said  in  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter  where  we  have  spoken  of  the  many  things  Buddhism 
contributed  to  Japanese  civilization.  At  this  point  we  are 
measuring  Buddhism  by  Christian  standards  and  not  by 
Shinto  or  Confucian. 

The  most  fundamental  defect  in  Buddhism  as  we  see  it, 
and  a  defect  which  has  almost  endless  ramifications  and 
accounts  largely  for  its  spirit  of  pessimism  and  other  de- 
fects mentioned  above,  is  the  Buddhist  conception  of  truth. 
Not  to  repeat  here  what  we  said  in  Chapter  V  on  this  sub- 
ject, but  simply  to  point  out  again  in  a  few  words  the  bane- 
ful and  blighting  effect  which  such  a  thoroughgoing  agnostic 
philosophy  has  upon  life  and  how  it  cuts  the  very  nerve  of 
all  truth.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  while  Buddhism 
has  much  to  say  theoretically  about  truth,  i.e.  Absolute 
Truth  as  known  by  the  Enlightened  One,  it  regards  all  truth 


BUDDHISM  AND  THE  FUTURE  321 

known  to  man  and  even  all  explanations  of  the  Absolute 
Truth  as  not  differing  essentially  from  error.  However 
profoundly  an  explanation  has  been  worked  out  and  the  stu- 
dent is  given  to  feel  that  now  at  last  he  has  something  which 
he  may  regard  as  really  true,  at  the  end  of  the  explanation 
usually  comes  the  agnostic  touch  reminding  one  that  the 
truth  explained  is  only  an  "accommodation  to  human 
ignorance"  and  that  real  truth  cannot  be  known. 

It  is  this  essentially  agnostic  attitude  which  in  the  first 
place  accounts  for  the  conglomerate  nature  of  Buddhism  as 
a  philosophy  or  a  practical  religion  in  which  the  nobler  ele- 
ments are  so  often  buried  by  the  accumulated  rubbish  of 
passing  centuries.  It  accounts  for  the  fact  that  in  Bud- 
dhism can  be  found  every  shade  of  thought  common  to  man, 
and  why  the  most  contradictory  doctrines  and  practices 
can  exist  side  by  side  without  any  one  thinking  it  strange. 
Contradictions  become  but  two  sides  of  the  same  thing, 
and  from  this  viewpoint  a  system  with  the  greatest  con- 
tradictions is  ipse  facto  the  most  comprehensive  statement  of 
the  full  truth.  Thus  it  is  the  boast  of  Buddhism  that  its 
philosophy  is  much  more  profound  than  that  of  Christianity 
because  where  the  latter  teaches  certain  definite  views  as 
true,  Buddhism  teaches  both  these  views  and  their  oppo- 
sites  and  every  shade  between.  And  so  if  it  be  asked  what 
Buddhism  teaches  on  this  or  that  point,  it  can  be  said  that 
it  teaches  almost  anything  you  please.  Or  to  put  it  in  the 
true  Buddhist  way,  Buddhism  teaches  This  from  one  point 
of  view  and  the  Opposite  from  the  opposite  point  of  view. 
(And  since  both  are  equally  true  or  good  there  is  good  reason 
for  following  neither  very  seriously.) 

But  if  it  be  asked,  Which  is  the  true  Buddhist  point  of 
view?  the  answer  is  that  Buddhism  views  truth  from  every 
angle  and  so  gets  an  infinite  variety  in  its  statements  of  the 
truth.  Thus  it  is  customary  to  speak  of  the  84,000  doctrines 
of  Buddhism.  Are  then  these  various  statements  of  the 
truth  taken  together  to  be  regarded  as  the  full  statement  of 
the  truth  and  all  to  be  regarded  as  true?  Yes  and  No,  is 
the  reply,  for  this  again  depends  upon  what  point  of  view 


322  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

you  take  of  the  matter.  And  so  the  dialectics  goes  on  ad 
infinitum,  and  the  upshot  of  the  matter  is  that  he  who  has 
gone  furthest  in  the  search  of  truth  knows  best  that  he  really 
knows  nothing.  It  is  this  agnosticism  among  the  thinkers 
in  Buddhism  which  begets  in  their  ignorant  followers  often 
the  most  astounding  credulity  and  superstitions,  for  the 
heart  of  man  demands  something  to  which  it  can  cling.  If 
the  leaders  hold  out  nothing  positive  to  which  the  mind  can 
cling,  then  the  ignorant  follower  invents  something,  and 
usually  something  crude. 

The  reader  may  feel  that  we  have  overstated  the  case,  but 
to  show  that  we  have  not  we  refer  him  to  Chapter  V,  in 
which  we  have  given  an  outline  of  Buddhist  teachings  on  the 
main  points  of  religion.  Not  to  repeat  what  was  said  there, 
we  simply  point  out  how  great  is  the  variety  of  answers 
given  to  the  central  question  in  religion.  Can  any  Jap- 
anese Buddhist  say,  e.g.  w^hat  is  the  answer  which  his  re- 
ligion makes  to  the  great  questions  about  God?  The  best 
he  can  do  is  to  say  that  Japanese  Buddhism  presents  a  be- 
wildering variety  in  its  conceptions  of  the  Divine.  These 
conceptions  range  all  the  way  from  the  "Unknowable  Ab- 
solute" of  the  philosopher  to  the  crude  and  extremel}^  real- 
istic gods  of  popular  polytheism.  As  polytheism  becomes 
a  reasoned  belief  it  changes  in  some  sects  into  a  semi-theism ; 
in  others  it  dwindles  into  what  is  virtually  atheism,  but  in 
most  cases  it  becomes  what  we  describe  by  the  vague  term 
of  Pantheism.  But  all  of  these  fade,  in  the  last  analysis, 
into  the  conception  of  the  Divine  as  the  "Great  Unknown." 

The  most  satisfactory  God-idea  in  Japanese  Buddhism  is 
that  held  by  the  Amida  sects.  It  approaches  in  the  minds 
of  some  writers  the  monotheistic  conception.  But  even 
here  there  is  nothing  very  positive,  for  as  we  have  shown  in 
Chapter  V,  the  answer  to  the  question  as  to  w^hether  Amida 
is  a  personal  being  or  not  depends  upon  the  "point  of  view." 
In  one  sense  x\mida  is  said  to  be  personal,  but  in  what  is 
apparently  regarded  a  higher  sense  he  is  not  personal.  The 
believer  may  take  his  choice  and  answer  the  question  by  either 
Yes  or  No,  for  whether  Amida  is  personal,  or  whether  he 


BUDDHISM  AND  THE  FUTURE  323 

has  any  real  existence  is  really  beyond  the  power  of  man  to 
know.  Or  to  put  it  in  the  strictly  Buddhist  fashion,  Prac- 
tically Amida  should  be  regarded  as  a  personal  god,  though 
from  the  standpoint  of  "Absolute  Truth"  he  cannot  be 
said  to  be  personal  or  have  any  real  existence. 

But  why  Amida  should  be  regarded  as  a  personal  God 
"  practically  "  when  in  reality  he  is  not  personal  may  not  seem 
clear  to  the  reader.  The  Buddhist  answer  to  such  an  ob- 
jection would  be  that  it  is  an  idea  which  is  suited  to  man's 
need  and  so  to  that  extent  it  should  be  accepted  as  true  even 
though  it  is  not  really  true.  But  whether  such  a  "practical" 
idea  will  continue  to  function  "practically"  when  it  is  known 
to  be  not  "really  true,"  we  leave  for  the  Buddhist  psycholo- 
gist to  answer  to  his  own  satisfaction.  We  have,  however, 
our  own  suspicions  that  "practical' '  ideas  which  are  not "  really 
true,"  found  so  frequently  in  Buddhist  thought,  account  for 
the  fact  that  Buddhism  is  losing  its  hold  on  an  awakened 
people,  and  that  the  average  Japanese  of  to-day  is  not  over- 
zealous  about  the  things  of  God.  And  it  is  also  perhaps  no 
wonder  that  some  of  the  Neo-Buddhists  would  eliminate 
everything  pertaining  to  the  Divine  from  their  religion  and 
build  up  something  like  Comte's  religion  of  Humanity  which 
is  made  by  man,  for  man  and  leaves  man  worshiping  him- 
self. 

If  the  conception  of  the  Divine  in  Japanese  Buddhism  is 
inadequate,  no  less  is  this  the  case  with  the  Buddhist  view  of 
man  and  his  destiny.  On  the  one  hand  Buddhism  apparently 
denies  the  very  existence  of  the  self,  regarding  it  as  but  an 
epiphenomenon  resulting  from  the  play  and  interplay  of  the 
Karma-energy,  which  latter  eludes  any  possibility  of  a  con- 
sistent conception,  and  on  the  other  hand  Buddhist  ethics 
teaches  that  the  development  of  the  personality  is  the  high- 
est aim  of  life.  In  fact  some  sects  hold  out  to  the  believer 
a  very  realistic  picture  of  the  future  life  in  which  man  is 
apparently  to  enjoy  all  that  he  loves  in  this  life.  Amida's 
Paradise  is  indeed  a  very  concrete  heaven  to  the  average 
believer.  But  as  the  believer  grows  in  intelligence  and 
begins  to  delve  in  the  deeper  teachings  of  his  sect  his  vision 


324  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

of  Paradise  begins  to  fade.  He  learns  that  for  "  practical" 
purposes  he  should  act  and  live  as  if  the  achievement  of  an 
enriched  personality  were  the  goal  of  all  our  striving  and 
the  one  value  which  abides  the  wreck  of  time,  but  in  reality 
personality  and  all  individuality  cannot  be  a  permanent 
state.  Just  as  the  idea  of  a  personal  God  is  regarded  as 
being  only  "practically  "  true,  but  not  "really"  true,  so  it 
is  with  the  human  personality.  Both  ideas  are  to  be  ac- 
cepted as  "provisionally"  true  because  they  function 
practically,  but  they  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  actually 
true. 

Again  do  we  raise  the  query:  If  the  achievement  of  an 
ideal  personality  is  only  an  "idea  of  an  ideal,"  and  in  reality 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  personality,  or  no  permanence  to 
an  "achieved  ideal  personality,"  how  long  will  such  an  idea 
function  practically?  Why  should  man  strive  to  achieve 
an  enriched  personality  when  this  lofty  goal  confessedly  has 
no  existence?  Nothing  can  be  "practically"  true  which  is 
not  really  true.  Thus  again  we  see  how  the  Buddhist  ag- 
nostic attitude  cuts  the  very  nerve  of  human  achievement. 

But  what  are  we  to  say  to  some  of  our  modern  Buddhists 
who  would  eliminate  the  idea  of  the  Divine  and  the  problem 
of  human  destiny  in  the  larger  sense  from  religion  altogether 
and  reduce  religion  to  a  mere  matter  of  present  human 
relationships?  To  sum  up  the  position  of  these  men  in  a 
few  words :  Let  the  modern  man  give  up  his  quest  for  the 
Divine  and  the  problems  which  deal  with  man's  relationship 
to  the  "unseen  world,"  and  let  him  confine  his  strivings  to 
the  things  of  the  present  and  to  the  destiny  of  the  nation  or 
the  race  rather  than  to  the  destiny  of  individual  personalities. 
Let  Buddhism  become  simply  a  moral  philosophy.  Japan 
needs  "a  system  of  religious  morals."  That  is,  she  needs  a 
system  of  morals  which  has  the  religious  spirit,  for  during 
the  Meiji  era  a  system  of  morals,  devoid  of  the  religious  tone, 
has  been  tried  and  found  wanting.  So  the  religious  tone  or 
flavor  must  be  brought  back  into  ethics,  but  brought  back 
without  any  entangling  alliances  with  ideas  regarding  the 
Divine  or  man's  relationship  to  the  Divine.    For  has  not  the 


BUDDHISM  AND  THE  FUTURE  325 

highest  philosophy  of  Buddhism  held  for  centuries  that  all 
such  speculations  really  lead  only  to  the  abyss  of  the  "  Un- 
knowable Absolute"  ?  Let  the  modern  Japanese  confine  his 
activities  to  the  cultivation  of  a  "practical  moral  life,"  and 
especially  let  him  confine  himself  to  such  "practical  moral 
principles"  which  will  fit  him  to  live  among  a  "modern,  com- 
mercial and  industrial  generation  of  men."  While  he  may 
have  a  certain  reverence  for  the  "Mystery  of  Reality"  which 
lies  hidden  in  the  "bosom  of  the  Absolute,"  he  should  not 
worry  his  mind  about  the  real  nature  of  that  reality  or  what 
will  become  of  him  when  the  time  comes  for  him  to  sink  back 
again  into  the  unfathomable  One-All. 

This  is  in  short  what  some  of  our  enlightened  Buddhists 
are  advocating.  We  realize,  of  course,  that  in  this  they  are 
not  very  different  from  some  of  our  Western  moralists  who 
would  have  a  moral  philosophy  with  the  religious  flavor  but 
with  the  heart  of  religion  left  out.  And  it  is  also  true  that 
such  a  step  would  be  rather  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of 
the  founder  of  Buddhism.  Gautama,  too,  felt  that  the  one 
thing  needful  was  for  man  to  walk  in  the  path  of  practical 
ethics  —  an  ethics  with  a  religious  flavor  but  with  God  left 
out.  The  goal,  however,  at  which  the  founder's  ethics 
aimed  was  quite  different  from  the  goal  which  these  moderns 
have  in  view.  For  him  this  ethical  path  was  a  way  out  of 
this  world  of  evil,  while  to  these  later  Buddhists  the  walk- 
ing in  the  path  of  practical  ethics  is  a  means  by  which  man 
may  become  master  of  his  environment  and  so  satisfy  his 
present  desires.  But  both  agree  in  that  they  regard  the 
deeper  religious  question,  namely,  the  question  of  God,  as 
impractical.  That  is,  both  seek  to  build  up  a  practical  ethics 
without  a  true  religious  basis. 

One  wonders  how  any  one  with  a  glimpse  of  psychology 
could  be  so  short-sighted.  The  core  of  morality  must  al- 
ways be  the  achievement  of  a  moral  or  ideal  personality. 
And  if  this  is  so,  then  the  question  as  to  the  final  value  of 
such  an  "achieved  personality"  or  the  conservation  of  such 
values  cannot  be  avoided.  And  in  answering  this  question 
it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  further  question  as  to  whether 


326  STUDIES   IN   JAPANESE   BUDDHISM 

personality  has  a  place  in  the  universe,  not  only  as  goal  but 
also  as  source,  i.e.  the  question  as  to  whether  there  is  a  Per- 
sonal God  and  man's  relationship  to  Him. 

Furthermore,  the  futility  of  trying  to  build  up  a  vital  ethics 
without  a  true  religious  basis  ought  to  be  evident  to  these 
Neo-Buddhists   from   Buddhist    history   itself.     The   very 
fact  that  Gautama  left  the  great  religious  questions  about 
God  and  the  soul  unanswered  resulted,  as  we  have  seen  in 
the  preceding  pages,  in  his  followers  trying  to  answer  these 
questions  for  themselves.      And  the  answers  given  in  the 
course  of  the  centuries  were  so  varied  that  the  religion  of 
Gautama  became  one  great  jumble  of  contradictions  which 
have  buried  the  "practical  ethics"  of  the  Middle  Path. 
The  lesson  from  Buddhist  history  is  unmistakable.     The 
heart  of  man  demands  an  answer  to  the  question  about  God 
and  man's  relationship  to  Him.     The  answer  which  agnosti- 
cism   makes   and  which  Buddhist  philosophy  has  tried  to 
make  will  not  permanently  satisfy,  and  man  will  continue  to 
demand  some  answer  more  positive.     This  is  the  meaning  of 
the  prevalence  of  polytheism  all  through  Buddhist  history, 
and  it  is  also  the  meaning  of  the  nobler  answer  to  the  great 
question  which  we  have  in  the  semi- theism  of  the  Amida  sects. 
The  "practical  ethics"  without  a  true  religious  basis  has  not 
satisfied  men  in  the  past,  and  it  cannot  satisfy  them  in  the 
future.     And  if  modern  Buddhists  ignore  this  lesson  of  his- 
tory, they  will  find  that  Japanese  Buddhism  will  continue  to 
be  grossly  polytheistic  and  that  their  proposed  "practical 
ethics"  will  be  swamped  by  the  superstitions  of  credulity, 
just  as  Gautama's  "practical  ethics"  were. 

We  repeat,  the  great  question  about  God  and  man's  re- 
lation to  Him  must  be  answered.  The  Amidaists  have 
caught  a  glimpse  of  this  great  truth  and  that  is  why  on  the 
whole  Amidaism  has  been  and  is  to-day  the  most  vital  re- 
ligious force  in  Japanese  Buddhism ;  but  it,  too,  is  inade- 
quate, for  the  agnostic  philosopher  has  also  cut  the  roots  of 
this  promising  tree  of  life.  We  have  seen  how^  again  and 
again  this  brightest  star  of  hope  and  aspiration  in  Buddhism 
appears  only  to  disappear  again  in  the  mists  of  doubt  and 


BUDDHISM  AND  THE  FUTURE  327 

despair  which  continually  rise  from  the  fathomless  depths  of 
Oriental  agnosticism.  It  is  because  of  this  recurrent  note  of 
skepticism  all  through  Buddhist  history  that  it  has  been  a 
philosophy  of  "pessimism  and  defeat"  and  not  a  religion  "of 
hope  and  aspiration."  For  Buddhism  to  now  rise  up  and 
cast  off  its  pessimism,  as  Professor  Inouye  suggests,  is  impos- 
sible unless  it  can  somehow  or  other  lay  hold  on  the  Living 
God. 

But  can  Buddhism  do  this  ?  Can  it  lay  hold  on  a  faith  in 
God  the  Heavenly  Father  ?  No,  it  cannot  and  at  the  same 
time  remain  true  to  its  generic  elements,  for  it  was  founded 
on  the  thought  of  man's  inability  to  know  the  "Unknow- 
able Absolute, "  and  through  all  the  centuries,  in  spite  of 
the  various  counter  currents  in  the  Buddhist  stream  of  life, 
this  has  been  the  dominant  current ;  this  has  been  the 
generic  element  of  Buddhism,  North  and  South,  Mahayana 
and  Hinayana. 

If  Japanese  Buddhism  cannot  lay  hold  on  the  Living  God 
without  undergoing  a  radical  change  in  its  fundamentals,  it 
does  not  follow  that  Japanese  Buddhists  cannot  fling  away 
their  pessimism  and  lay  hold  on  Him  and  so  find  satisfaction 
for  their  hopes  and  aspirations.  That  this  is  possible  is 
best  shown  by  what  is  taking  place  to-day  in  Japan.  But 
this  is  another  story ;  it  is  the  story  of  Christianity  in  this 
land.  Of  this  story  only  the  first  chapter  is  history;  the 
remainder  is  written  in  the  hearts  of  the  rising  generation  and 
will  be  written  in  the  lives  of  the  generations  to  come, 

"For  the  old  order  changeth  yielding  place  to  the  new, 
And  God  fulfills  himself  in  many  ways." 


NOTES 

Chaptek  I 

1.  It  would  seem  that  even  before  the  rise  of  Buddhism  and 
that  rehgious  complex  which  we  call  Hinduism,  the  general 
characteristics  of  the  religious  life  of  India  were  essentially 
what  they  have  been  all  through  the  centuries.  That  is,  on  the 
one  hand  we  have  the  philosophers'  profound  speculative 
thoughts  about  the  deeper  realities  of  life,  and  on  the  other 
hand  we  see  the  very  crude  and  naively  realistic  conceptions 
as  held  by  the  common  people.  There  is  always  a  wide  gap 
between  the  two.  India  has  apparently  never  been  very  suc- 
cessful in  formulating  the  results  of  its  speculative  efforts  in 
such  a  way  that  they  can  be  applied  by  the  common  man  to 
life  as  he  must  live  it.  Buddhism  was  an  attempt  to  brush 
aside  the  vain  and  impractical  speculations  of  the  old-fashioned 
philosophers  and  to  fix  men's  attention  on  a  practical  course 
of  conduct  which  should  lead  him  from  a  lower  into  a  higher  and 
better  life,  but  it,  too,  failed  in  the  end ;  for  one  of  the  most 
outstanding  characteristics  of  Buddhism  throughout  the  cen- 
turies has  been  just  this  wide  chasm  between  the  ideals  and 
thoughts  of  a  few  leaders  and  the  life  of  their  ignorant  followers. 

2.  The  date  of  the  Buddha,  according  to  Buddhists  them- 
selves, is  placed  all  the  way  from  the  eleventh  to  the  sixth  and 
fifth  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  Northern  Buddhists, 
desiring  to  have  their  master  antedate  Confucius  and  Lao-tse, 
give  the  day  of  his  birth  as  belonging  to  the  latter  part  of  the 
eleventh  century  B.C. ;  1026  B.C.  being  the  date  accepted  by 
many  in  Japan.  The  date  generally  accepted  in  Burma,  Siam 
and  Ceylon  is  623  B.C.  for  his  birth  and  543  B.C.  for  his  death. 
Western  scholars  and  modern  scholars  in  the  Orient  are  fairly 
at  one  in  putting  the  date  of  his  birth  about  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century  B.C.  and  the  date  of  his  death  somewhere  about 
the  vear  480  B.C.  This  conclusion  is  reached  from  the  fact  that 
King  Asoka's  inscriptions  on  certain  stone  pillars  mention  cer- 

328 


NOTES  329 

'tain  Greek  kings  who  reigned  during  the  middle  of  the  third 
century  B.C.,  and  from  the  fact  that  the  Ceylon  Chronicles  state 
that  between  the  accession  of  King  Asoka  and  the  death  of  the 
Buddha  218  years  elapsed.  As  it  is  therefore  impossible  to  fix 
exactly  the  date  of  the  accession  of  Asoka,  and  especially  since 
the  statement  in  the  Ceylon  Chronicles  is  not  altogether  clear, 
we  cannot  be  too  positive  in  fixing  the  date  of  the  Buddha. 
The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  it  is  almost  next  to  impossible 
to  fix  any  dates  in  early  Indian  history. 

3.  The  names  under  which  the  Buddha  is  known  are  numer- 
ous. Not  only  are  the  forms  of  the  word  Buddha  many,  as  S. 
Hardy  has  pointed  out,  but  he  is  given  many  different  appella- 
tions by  his  followers  in  the  various  Buddhist  lands  of  Asia.  Of 
course,  the  name  Buddha  is  really  not  a  proper  name,  but  a 
generic  name.  There  have  been  many  Buddhas,  according  to 
Buddhists,  and  so  one  should  prefix  the  proper  name  Gautama 
or  the  definite  article  "the,"  if  one  is  speaking  of  the  Buddha 
who  lived  in  India  about  the  sixth  or  fifth  century  B.C.  Per- 
haps the  most  common  term  under  which  the  Buddha  is  known 
is  S'akyamuni,  i.e.  the  Teacher  of  the  S'akyans.  In  fact,  in 
Japan  one  seldom  hears  him  spoken  of  as  "the  Buddha"  (Jap. 
Butsu),  but  usually  as  Shaka,  Shakasama,  Shaka  Butsu  or 
Shaka  Nyorai.  A  term  in  Buddhist  literature  much  in  use  is 
this  word  Nyorai  (Sk.  Tathagata).  In  early  Buddhist  litera- 
ture the  Tathagata  frequently  means  Gautama  Buddha,  though 
it  is  not  exclusively  applied  to  him.  The  Tathagatas  are  many. 
In  later  Buddhist  literature  the  Nyorai  often  means  one  of  the 
great  Buddhas  of  Northern  Buddhism.  Amida  especially  is 
often  designated  by  this  term.  Japanese  Buddhists  are  accus- 
tomed to  speaking  of  the  Ten  Names  of  Buddha,  the  first  being 
the  name  Nyorai,  which  probably  means  the  Perfect  One,  or 
the  One  Who  Comes  in  the  Likeness  of  the  Truth.  It  is  the 
highest  term  applied  to  a  Buddha.  The  other  nine  names  are 
likewise  descriptive  of  some  attribute  characteristic  of  a  Buddha. 
Thus  he  is  spoken  of  as  the  one  filled  with  all  virtue  and  wisdom, 
the  supreme  Lord,  the  Teacher  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  world- 
honored  One,  etc.  Beyond  these  expressions  there  are  others 
less  technical,  but  also  more  or  less  descriptive  of  the  true  char- 
acteristics of  a  Buddha. 

4.  The  Three  Conceptions  (Sk.  Trividya),  namely,  Imper- 
manence  (Sk.  Anitya),  Suffering  or  Misery  (Sk.  Dukha)  and 
Non-Ego  (Sk.  Anatma),  may  be  regarded  as  the  three  axioms  of 


330  NOTES 

Buddhism.  These  are  essentially  the  same  as  the  so-called 
Three  Law-Seals,  and  these  latter  may  be  said  to  be  the  three 
characteristics  of  Buddhism  which  distinguish  it  from  other 
religions  ;  they  are  the  three  tests  by  which  heretical  views  can 
be  distinguished  from  the  orthodox  view.  These  Three  Law- 
Seals  (Jap.  Samboin)  are:  All  Work  is  impermanent  (Jap. 
Shogyo  mujo),  All  Laws  are  without  an  ego  principle  (Jap. 
Shoho  muga),  and  Nirvana  is  Tranquillity  (Jap.  Nehan  Jakujo). 

5.  The  Four  Noble  Truths  (Sk.  Aryasatyani  or  Aryanisatyani, 
Jap.  Shitai)  stated  in  a  word  each  are  as  follows :  Suffering  (Sk. 
Dukha,  Jap.  Ku),  Accumulation  (Sk.  Samudaya,  Jap.  Shii), 
Extinction  (Sk.  Nirodha,  Jap.  Metsu)  and  Way  (Sk.  Marga, 
Jap.  Do). 

6.  The  Noble  Eightfold  Path  (Sk.  Marga  or  As'thanga  Marga, 
Jap.  Hachi  Shodo)  is  the  following : 

a.  Right  Views  (Sk.  Samyagdrichti,  Jap.  Shoken). 

b.  Right  Aspirations  (Sk.  Samyaksamkalpa,  Jap.  Shoshiyui). 

c.  Right  Speech  (Sk.  Samyagvak,  Jap.  Sh5go). 

d.  Right  Conduct  (Sk.  Samyagadjiva,  Jap.  Shogo). 

e.  Right  Mode  of  Livelihood  (Sk,  Samyagvyayama,  Jap. 
Shomei). 

/.    Right  Effort  (Sk.  Samyaksamadhi,  Jap.  Shojojun). 
g.    Right  Mindfulness  (Sk.  Samyaksmriti,  Jap.  Shonen). 
h.    Right  Rapture  (Sk.  Samyakkarmanta,  Jap.  Shojo). 

7.  For  the  meaning  of  the  word  Tathagata  see  note  3  above. 
This  is  probably  the  term  which  the  Buddha  used  most  fre- 
quently of  himself  when  speaking  to  his  disciples  of  his  own 
inner  experience  and  the  nature  of  true  enlightenment. 

8.  The  second  and  third  of  the  Four  Noble  Truths,  viz.  the 
truth  as  to  the  origin  of  suffering  and  the  truth  as  to  the  cessa- 
tion of  suffering,  were  stated  more  fully  in  a  sort  of  double  formula 
known  as  the  Causal  Nexus  of  Being,  or  what  might  be  called 
the  Twelve  Links  of  the  Karma  Chain,  the  twelve  Nidanas. 
These  formulas  read  something  as  follows:  "From  Ignorance 
come  Latent  Impressions ;  from  Latent  Impressions  comes 
Thought-substance ;  from  Thought-substance  come  Name  and 
Form ;  from  Name  and  Form  come  the  Six  Roots  (i.e.  the  sense 
organs.  Buddhism  recognizing  six) ;  from  the  Six  Roots  comes 
Contact ;  from  Contact  comes  Sensation  ;  from  Sensation  comes 
Desire  ;  from  Desire  comes  Clinging  to  Existence  ;  from  Cling- 
ing to  Existence  comes  Becoming  ;  from  Becoming  comes  Birth  ; 
from  Birth  come  Decrepitude  and  Death,  Pain  and  Lamenta- 


NOTES  331 

tion,  Suffering,  Anxiety  and  Despair.     This  is  the  origin  of  the 
whole  realm  of  suffering. 

"  But  if  Ignorance  be  removed  by  the  complete  extinction  of 
Desire,  this  brings  about  the  removal  of  Latent  Impressions ; 
by  the  removal  of  Latent  Impressions,  Thought-substance  is 
removed ;  by  the  removal  of  Thought-substance,  Name  and 
Form  are  removed ;  by  the  removal  of  Name  and  Form,  the 
Six  Roots  are  removed ;  by  the  removal  of  the  Six  Roots,  Con- 
tact is  removed ;  by  the  removal  of  Contact,  Sensation  is  re- 
moved ;  by  the  removal  of  Sensation,  Desire  is  removed ;  by 
the  removal  of  Desire,  Clinging  to  Existence  is  removed ;  by 
the  removal  of  Clinging  to  Existence,  Becoming  is  removed ; 
by  the  removal  of  Becoming,  Birth  is  removed  ;  by  the  removal 
of  Birth,  Decrepitude  and  Death,  Pain  and  Lamentation,  Suffer- 
ing, Anxiety  and  Despair  are  removed.  This  is  the  removal  of 
the  whole  realm  of  suffering." 

This  statement  is  incidentally  a  very  good  example  of  the 
style  in  which  the  Buddha's  teachings  were  cast  as  a  rule, 
namely,  what  to  a  Western  mind  would  be  a  weary  form  of 
repetition. 

9.  There  are  several  reasons  why  the  careful  student  must 
hesitate  in  saying  with  most  writers  on  early  Buddhism  that 
the  Buddha  denied  the  existence  of  the  self.  Of  course,  every 
one  must  admit  that  he  did  not  accept  the  soul  theories  current 
in  India  at  that  time,  but  as  most  of  these  conceived  of  the  soul 
as  a  refined  substance  which  passed  over  from  one  body  to  an- 
other it  does  not  follow  that  the  Buddha,  in  rejecting  such 
theories,  rejected  every  soul-theory.  The  very  fact  that  he  put 
the  question  as  to  whether  the  Arhat  continues  beyond  death 
among  the  great  Indeterminates  should  make  us  hesitate  to  say 
that  he  positively  denied  his  continued  existence.  In  fact,  if 
this  question  belongs  to  the  great  Indeterminates,  then  there  is 
as  much  reason  for  saying  that  the  Buddha  believed  in  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  soul  as  that  he  did  not. 

Even  if  it  is  admitted  that  his  primary  interest  was  in  freeing 
man  from  the  bondage  of  existence  and  the  Arhat's  chief  joy 
consisted  in  the  consciousness  that  at  death  the  empirical  ego 
would  come  to  an  end  because  its  Karma  had  been  exhausted, 
it  still  remains  possible  that  the  Buddha  could  have  believed  in 
the  continuity  of  the  higher  ego,  one  that  is  not  to  be  conceived 
of  in  terms  of  the  empirical  ego,  but  for  all  that  be  a  true  self. 
Kant  has  accustomed  us  to  the  conception  of  a  distinction  be- 


332  NOTES 

tween  the  "empirical  ego  "  and  the  "transcendental  self," 
though  we  must  admit  that  at  first  sight  it  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand just  what  the  "  transcendental  self"  as  distinguished  from 
the  "empirical  self"  might  be.  For  if  the  self  known  in  self- 
consciousness  is  not  the  real  self,  then  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
one  can  assert  even  the  existence  of  another  self  which  is  the 
real  self.  Of  course,  it  is  true  that  the  self  is  greater  and  more 
than  what  appears  in  self-consciousness  from  moment  to 
moment.  That  is,  every  man  feels  that  the  flow  of  conscious- 
ness is  never  the  full  expression  of  his  entire  self.  Thus  when  a 
bank  clerk  is  adding  up  columns  of  figures  from  day  to  day  and 
this  work  represents  the  stream  of  his  consciousness  for  six  or 
eight  hours  every  day,  it  is  not  true  that  the  whole  self  is  express- 
ing itself  in  this  operation.  And  that  is  true  more  or  less  with 
the  life  of  every  man.  In  fact  every  one  has  experiences  in 
which  a  depth  of  his  being  is  revealed  to  himself  of  which  he 
had  never  dreamed.  And  great  crises  in  men's  lives  often  bring 
out  qualities  which  are  startling,  not  only  to  their  friends  but 
also  to  themselves.  All  of  this  simply  goes  to  show  that  there 
is  room  for  the  distinction  between  the  ego  of  the  ordinary  stream 
of  consciousness  and  the  full  ego,  or  the  real  ego  of  which  even 
we  ourselves  get  only  glimpses  as  it  were  from  time  to  time. 

Now  may  it  not  be  that  the  Buddha  had  in  mind  some  such 
distinction,  and  that  when  he  said  that  the  ego  was  an  illusion 
and  fell  apart  at  death,  he  meant  this  empirical  ego  whose  life  is 
made  up  of  the  world  of  sense,  the  world  of  physical  pleasures 
and  pains  which  for  the  average  man  makes  up  almost  the  whole 
life,  but  that  he  did  not  deny  the  existence  and  continuity  be- 
yond death  of  a  higher  and  deeper  self  ?  The  successive  taber- 
nacles which  Karma  creates  constituted  the  seat  of  the  succes- 
sive empirical  egos,  and  these  were  the  fetters  of  the  higher  ego 
from  which  it  could  only  be  freed  after  the  higher  ego  was  per- 
fectly enlightened  and  saw  that  the  life  of  the  senses  and  the 
pleasures  of  the  empirical  ego  were  not  the  core  of  its  real  life. 
That  is,  it  is  Ignorance  which  somehow  attaches  itself  to 
the  higher  ego  which  gives  rise  through  the  twelve  links  of  the 
Karma  chain  (the  twelve  links  of  the  Karma  chain,  or  the 
twelve  segments  of  the  Wheel  of  Life,  are :  Ignorance,  Latent 
Impressions,  Thought-substance,  Name  and  Form,  the  Six 
Roots,  Contact,  Sensation,  Desire,  Clinging  to  Existence,  Be- 
coming, Birth,  and  Decrepitude  and  Death.  For  a  fuller  state- 
ment of  this  with  some  slight  changes  see  note  8  of  Chapter  I 


NOTES  333 

and  Chapter  V,  Sect.  B)  to  the  life  of  the  body  and  the  experi- 
ence of  the  empirical  ego  and  the  whole  chain  of  future  rebirths. 
Only  after  this  Karma  chain  is  broken  by  a  dispelling  of  the 
initial  ignorance  does  the  higher  ego  gain  its  freedom. 

It  is  true  that  if  the  Buddha  believed  in  the  existence  of  this 
higher  ego,  one  would  expect  him  to  have  laid  greater  stress  on 
the  state  of  this  ego  beyond  death,  and  one  would  think  that 
he  would  have  made  salvation  less  negative,  i.e.  not  a  mere 
"escape  from  evil,"  but  rather  a  future  positive  good.  In 
answer  to  this  objection  it  may,  however,  be  said  that  the  early 
Buddhists  did  use  rather  positive  terms  to  express  the  concep- 
tion of  salvation.  If  the  Buddha  himself  did  not  use  these 
terms,  it  may  have  been  because  he  sought  to  avoid  filling  the 
conception  of  Nirvana  with  the  contents  taken  from  the  ex- 
perience of  the  empirical  self.  Of  these  things  Nirvana  was 
void,  but  nevertheless  it  may  have  had  a  content  which  tran- 
scends human  experience  and  so  could  not  be  expressed  in  terms 
of  this  experience.  Even  union  with  the  Brahman  was  inade- 
quate to  express  the  thought,  for  the  Brahman  was  regarded 
as  the  unitary  ground  of  all  empirical  existence,  and  so  union 
with  the  Brahman  savored  too  much  of  the  things  of  this  world 
to  be  acceptable  to  the  Buddha  as  an  ideal  of  salvation.  No, 
salvation  was  to  be  a  deliverance  from  the  bondages  of  the 
empirical-existence  self,  and  therefore  when  spoken  of  in  terms 
of  this  self,  Nirvana  must  be  regarded  as  absolutely  void.  But 
the  Arhat  may  nevertheless  continue  in  the  realm  of  the  "  tran- 
scendental self,"  and  his  Nirvana  is  therefore  a  state  which  is 
beyond  human  language  to  express. 

Now  in  saying  all  this  we  do  not  wish  to  state  positively  that 
the  Buddha  held  such  a  view,  but  the  facts  known  thus  far  as 
to  the  core  of  his  teachings  should  make  one  hesitate  to  say  that 
he  denied  the  reality  of  the  self  in  the  above  sense.  The  "  illu- 
sion of  the  self"  may  have  meant  the  illusion  regarding  the 
sense-life  of  the  body  and  the  craving  thirst  for  earth's  fleeting 
pleasures  as  having  real  content  for  the  deeper  self.  x\t  any 
rate  inasmuch  as  the  Buddha  put  the  continuation  of  the  Arhat 
in  a  future  state  among  the  great  Indeterminates  there  would 
seem  to  be  as  much  ground  for  holding  that  he  believed  in  such 
a  continuation  as  that  he  did  not.  Even  among  Christians  of 
our  own  day  there  are  those  who  have  no  positive  convictions 
about  the  nature  of  the  spiritual  self  and  its  destiny.  They 
say  these  things  belong  to  the  realm  of  speculation  and  that 


334  NOTES 

they  are  interested  primarily  in  the  practical  life,  the  things 
which  concern  our  present  daily  life.  Like  these  good  people, 
the  Buddha,  too,  as  we  have  said,  was  more  interested  in  freeing 
men  from  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  by  showing  them  how  to  walk  in 
the  Noble  Eightfold  Path  than  in  spending  his  time  in  answer- 
ing the  great  questions  as  to  the  real  nature  of  the  spiritual  self 
and  its  destiny.  He  was  positive  in  asserting  that  life  as  lived 
by  ignorant  humanity  is  not  worth  living,  and  that  a  knowledge 
of  its  nature  and  the  cause  of  its  sufferings  constituted  true  wis- 
dom ;  and  further,  that  the  truly  wise  will  seek  to  end  such  a 
life  by  walking  in  the  Middle  Way,  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path. 
Everything  beyond  these  practical  and  immediate  interests  he 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  realm  of  the  unknown,  about  which 
speculation  is  futile. 

10.  The  very  fact  that  we  have  no  English  or  Western  equiva- 
lent for  the  word  Karma  is  due  largely  to  the  difficulty  of  getting 
at  its  real  meaning.  In  Japanese  the  expression  "Ingwa  oho" 
is  used  to  express  the  general  Causal-Nexus  law,  while  the  term 
"Gyo"  designates  more  specifically  the  ethical  aspect  of  Karma 
in  the  life  of  an  individual. 

11.  The  Five  Aggregates  (Sk.  Skandhas,  Jap.  Goun)  are  the 
following : 

a.  Bodiliness  or  Form  (Sk.  Rupa,  Jap.  Shiki). 

b.  Sensation  (Sk.  Vedana,  Jap.  Shu). 

c.  Perception  (Sk.  Samdjna,  Jap.  So). 

d.  Predisposition  or  Action  (Sk.  Karman  or  Samskara,  Jap, 
Gyo). 

e.  Consciousness  or  Knowledge  (Sk.  Vidjnana,  Jap.  Shiki). 

12.  To  say  that  Karma  is  like  Schopenhauer's  "Blind  Will" 
or  "W^ill-to-be"  is  really  putting  things  upside  down,  for  Scho- 
penhauer was  a  student  of  Buddhism  and  so  it  is  more  correct 
to  say  that  his  "  Blind  Will"  is  like  that  mysterious  energy  which 
Buddhism  designates  by  this  word  Karma. 

13.  The  Middle  Way  is  the  way  midway  between  the  two 
extremes  of  a  life  of  sensual  enjoyments  and  a  life  of  asceticism. 
The  Buddha  had  experienced  both.  As  a  young  nobleman  he 
had  lived  the  life  of  the  world ;  and  while  he  probably  never 
was  a  sensuous  man,  he  must  have  experienced  the  pull  of  the 
lower  passions.  When  he  began  his  great  quest,  he  went  to 
the  other  extreme  and  for  about  six  years  lived  the  life  of  an 
ascetic,  but  this,  too,  proved  a  disappointment.  It  is  only 
when  he  lived  a  life  of  moderation  and  walked  in  the  Middle 


NOTES  335 

Way  that  he  attained  enhghtenment.  Of  course,  to  men  of  the 
world  even  this  hfe  of  moderation  seemed  Hke  an  ascetic  life, 
and  that  is  why  he  was  often  called  the  Great  Ascetic.  And  it 
is  also  true  that  many  of  his  followers  were  real  ascetics  and 
clung  tenaciously  to  the  time-honored  way  of  trying  to  achieve 
spiritual  enrichment  by  mortifying  the  body.  But  the  Buddha 
himself  had  risen  above  this  method  and  advocated  the  Middle 
Way,  the  way  of  moderation.  The  Middle  Way  in  Chinese  and 
Japanese  Buddhism  has  a  wider  meaning.  In  ethical  contexts 
the  term  means  very  much  the  same  that  it  meant  in  primitive 
Buddhism,  but  more  frequently  it  stands  for  the  general  Maha- 
yana  world  view  as  over  against  other  world  views.  It  stands 
for  a  world  view  which  holds  that  reality  is  neither  what  it 
appears  to  be  to  the  unenlightened  masses,  nor  is  it  an  absolute 
void,  as  is  held  by  some  philosophers.  For  a  fuller  statement 
see  Chapter  V,  Sect.    C. 

14.  There  were  at  least  six  new  sects  that  came  into  existence 
about  the  time  that  Buddhism  arose.  Of  these  only  one  be- 
sides Buddhism  has  survived,  viz.  the  Jaina  Sect.  The  rest, 
apparently,  were  absorbed  into  that  all-inclusive  system  we  call 
Hinduism  to-day. 

Cbl\pter  II 

1.  It  is  customar}^  to  speak  of  four  Great  Councils  of  Bud- 
dhism. These  are:  (1)  The  Council  of  Rajagriha  called  soon 
after  the  death  of  the  Buddha.  (2)  The  Council  of  Vaisali 
called  about  one  hundred  years  after  the  first  council.  (3)  The 
Council  of  Pataliputra  called  by  the  great  Buddhist  King  Asoka 
in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign  (about  the  year  245  B.C.). 
(4)  The  Council  of  Jalandhara  called  by  the  Indo-Scythian  King 
Kanishka.  The  first  and  second  councils  are  recognized  by  all 
Buddhists.  The  third  council  is  regarded  by  Southern  Bud- 
dhists as  being  on  the  same  plane  with  the  first  two,  while  the 
fourth  is  not  admitted  to  have  had  any  real  authority.  On  the 
other  hand,  Northern  Buddhists  look  upon  the  fourth  council  as 
being  next  in  importance  to  the  first  council  of  Rajagriha ;  for 
it  may  be  said  that  King  Kanishka  plays  in  Northern  Buddhism 
much  the  same  role  that  Asoka  plays  in  Southern  Buddhism, 
both  being  regarded  as  great  defenders  of  the  faith. 

2.  When  we  say  that  Southern  or  Hinayana  Buddhism  re- 
mained more  or  less  true  to  the  teachings  of  original  Buddhism, 
the  statement  should  not  be  taken  too  strictly.     It  is  true  only 


336  NOTES 

in  a  very  general  way.  In  its  popular  form  Southern  Buddhism 
is  every  whit  as  much  of  a  perversion  of  Gautama's  religion  as 
is  the  popular  form  of  Northern  Buddhism. 

3.  Compare  Chapter  V,  Sect.  D  and  note  3  of  Chapter  V. 

4.  Asvaghosha  (Jap.  Memyo),  Nagarjuna  (Jap.  Ryuju), 
Asanga  (Jap.  Mujaku),  Vasubandhu  (Jap.  Seshin). 

5.  It  is  customary  to  speak  of  twelve  Chinese  sects  in  Bud- 
dhism, though  their  number  changed  somewhat  from  time  to 
time.  The  following  nine  were  introduced  into  Japan  :  Jojitsu, 
Sanron,  Jodo,  Zen,  Tendai,  Kegon,  Hosso,  Ritsu  and  Shingon. 
We  have  given  them  in  the  order  in  which  they  arose  in  China 
and  not  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  introduced  into  Japan. 
The  following  four  sects  also  flourished  in  China,  but  were  never 
introduced  into  Japan,  though  their  teachings  were  transmitted 
in  one  way  or  another :   Bidon,  Nehan,  Chiron  and  Soron. 

Chapter  III 

1.  While  this  was  the  first  public  and  successful  introduction 
of  Buddhism  into  Japan,  it  would  seem  that  it  was  not  the  first 
attempt  of  Buddhists  to  get  a  hold  in  the  island  empire.  We 
are  told  that  al^out  25  years  earlier  a  Chinese  priest  had  come 
to  the  southern  shores  with  an  image  which  he  set  up  in  a  grass 
hut ;  but  the  record  goes  on  to  say  that  the  people  among 
whom  he  worked  did  not  understand  what  it  meant  and  none 
were  led  to  follow  the  new  faith. 

2.  The  southern  portion  of  Japan  had  long  since  been  cleared 
of  the  aborigines  and  occupied  by  the  Japanese,  but  it  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  come  completely  under  the  control  of 
the  Yamato  chieftains  of  central  Japan.  Even  for  a  consider- 
able length  of  time  after  this,  southern  Japan  continued  to  be  a 
rival  of  central  Japan  rather  than  subject  to  it. 

3.  The  word  Shinto  is  a  Chinese  word  and  means  "  the  Way 
of  the  Gods."  Obviously  this  name  was  given  to  the  native 
religion  after  Japan  had  come  into  vital  contact  with  China. 
Before  that  time  there  probably  was  no  such  thing  as  a 
Shinto  Religion,  but  rather  only  a  number  of  primitive 
local  cults  which  were  gradually  being  welded  together  into 
a  sort  of  connected  whole  as  the  nation  was  being  welded 
together  politically.  That  is,  the  native  religion  developed 
pari  passu  with  the  state  from  disconnected  elements  into  at 
least  a  semblance  of  unity. 


NOTES  337 

4.  The  monistic  and  theistic  aspects  of  some  of  the  modern 
Shinto  sects  are  of  comparatively  late  development. 

5.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  imperial  family,  according  to 
Shinto  (and  this  every  loyal  Japanese  is  supposed  to  believe, 
even  to  this  day),  is  descended  from  Amaterasu,  the  chief 
Shinto  deity. 

6.  Yamato  Damashii  was  first  largely  a  product  of  Shinto, 
but  in  its  modern  characteristics  it  owes  perhaps  just  as  much 
to  Confucianism  as  to  the  old  native  religion. 

7.  Whether  these  masterpieces  of  the  seventh  century  were 
really  produced  by  Japanese  or  whether  they  are  the  work  of 
Koreans  who  were  residing  in  Japan  at  that  time  is  difficult  to 
determine.  We  know,  e.g.,  that  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventh 
century,  as  a  result  of  the  fall  of  the  Korean  kingdoms  of  Kudara 
(660)  and  Koma  (668),  a  great  many  refugees  came  to  settle  in 
Japan ;  and,  of  course,  long  before  this  many  Koreans  had 
crossed  over  to  the  islands  to  serve  as  teachers  in  the  various 
arts  and  handicrafts. 

8.  The  great  aim  of  the  Taikwa  reformers  was  the  real  uni- 
fication of  Japan  and  the  establishment  of  a  central  government 
which  would  have  real  authority  over  the  various  sections  of 
the  empire.  How  successful  they  were  in  this  may  be  seen 
from  the  fact  that  when  the  reformers  of  1868  looked  around 
for  a  model,  they  turned  back  to  this  period  of  Japan's  history 
for  inspiration  and  guidance.  And  furthermore,  Emperor 
Tenchi,  who  as  Prince  Naka-no-Oye  was  one  of  the  leaders  in 
these  reforms,  is  regarded  to  this  day  as  one  of  Japan's  three 
greatest  emperors. 

9.  For  the  chief  differences  between  the  three  great  divisions 
of  Buddhist  philosophy,  viz.  Hinayana,  Provisional  Maha- 
yana  and  True  Mahay  ana,  see  Chapter  V,  Sect.  C. 

10.  When  we  say  that  the  Kegon  Sect  belongs  to  the  Maha- 
yana  School  and  as  such  belongs  to  that  type  of  Buddhism  which 
won  Japan,  we  do  not  mean  to  say  that  later  Buddhist  sects 
were  all  more  or  less  like  the  Kegon.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there 
are  as  many  types  of  sects  in  the  so-called  Mahayana  division 
as  there  are  in  Buddhism  as  a  whole ;  especially  is  this  true  if 
one  considers  the  popular  religious  teachings  of  these  sects. 
The  Mahayana  sects  agree  with  one  another  only  in  a  very 
general  way,  viz.  in  the  philosophical  basis  of  their  teachings. 
The  religious  application,  however,  that  is  made  of  these  general 
teachings  differs  very  widely  in  these  sects. 


338  NOTES 

11.  There  are,  of  course,  larger  bells  in  existence  to-day. 
The  great  Moscow  bell,  e.g.,  is  much  larger,  as  is  also  the  one  at 
Tennoji  in  Osaka ;  but  these,  it  must  be  remembered,  were 
cast  many  centuries  later,  and  besides,  the  Moscow  bell  has 
never  been  hung  successfully. 

12.  It  is  only  by  accommodation  that  one  can  speak  of  the 
Kojiki  and  Nihongi  as  histories.  The  best  that  can  be  said 
about  them  is  that  their  authors  meant  them  to  be  received  as 
faithful  accounts  of  what  had  transpired.  These  writers,  or 
rather  the  authorities  who  inspired  them,  were  more  concerned 
with  "the  correct  interpretation  of  the  facts"  than  with  the 
facts  themselves,  and  so  one  should  not  be  surprised  if  one  finds 
occasionally  choice  bits  of  Chinese  history  incorporated  bodily 
in  the  annals  of  the  simple  islanders.  And  yet  as  these  two 
works  are  the  oldest  Japanese  records  in  existence  they  must  be 
regarded  as  our  chief  sources  for  early  Japanese  history. 

13.  The  great  Taikwa  reforms,  e.g.,  were  made  possible 
largely  because  of  the  knowledge  of  things  Chinese  which  these 
reformers  possessed.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  "brains"  of  the 
reforms  were  really  the  two  so-called  National  Doctors  who 
had  resided  at  the  Chinese  court  for  some  thirty  years.  One 
of  these  was  the  Buddhist  priest  Bin. 

14.  Compare  Chapter  IV,  the  section  which  deals  with  the 
Five  Periods  of  the  Buddhas  ministry. 

15.  As  a  matter  of  fact  no  Buddhist  sect  with  the  exception 
of  the  Nichiren  Sect  would  regard  the  teachings  of  other  sects, 
however  contradictory  to  its  own  teachings  these  might  seem, 
as  false.  The  philosophers  of  almost  all  sects  would  hold  with 
the  Tendai  Sect  that  all  contradictions  are  but  opposite  sides 
of  the  same  reality.  The  only  claim  that  one  sect  would  make 
for  itself  is  that  it  stresses  a  certain  truth  more  strongly  than 
other  sects. 

16.  As  we  pointed  out  in  Chapter  II,  it  is  very  difficult  with 
our  limited  knowledge  of  the  history  and  life  currents  of  Central 
Asia  to  determine  whether  Buddhism  in  its  passage  from  India 
to  China  came  into  contact  with  Western  thought-currents. 

17.  While  magic  and  mystery  are  very  characteristic  of  the 
Shingon  Sect,  we  do  not  wish  to  imply  that  this  sect  has  a  mo- 
nopoly on  such  things.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  priests  of  all  sects 
have  exercised  authority  over  not  only  the  ignorant  masses,  but 
also  statesmen  and  rulers  because  of  their  supposed  powers 
with  demons  and  offended  spirits  of  the  dead.     It  is  amazing 


NOTES  339 

to  see  how  comparatively  strong  this  hold  is  even  to-day  in 
circles  where  the  higher  grade  of  intelligence,  one  would  think, 
should  make  this  sort  of  thing  impossible. 

18.  "It  not  only  became  the  religion  of  the  court,"  says 
Murdoch,  "  but  in  course  of  time  we  actually  read  of  an  emperor 
of  Japan  making  solemn  public  profession  of  being  the  humble 
servant  of  the  three  sacred  things,  —  Buddha,  the  Law  and 
the  Priests,  to  wit.  In  900  the  abdicated  sovereign  received  the 
tonsure,  and  this  practice  soon  became  customary ;  and  a  cen- 
tury or  two  later  it  was  not  the  titular  reigning  emperor,  but 
the  H5-0  —  or  Cloistered  Emperor  —  who  really  ruled." 

19.  By  this  time  Japan  had  become  a  real  land  of  soldiers. 
The  great  Fujiwara  family,  which  had  been  virtually  the  domi- 
nant force  in  the  empire  ever  since  the  reforms  of  the  seventh 
century,  and  which  had  ruled  not  with  the  sword  but  with  the 
more  refined  methods  of  diplomacy,  was  being  compelled  to  give 
way  to  the  famous  Tairas  and  Minamotos.  This  struggle  kept  the 
land  in  constant  turmoil  until  finally  the  illustrious  Yoritomo 
of  the  Minamoto  family  succeeded  in  bringing  the  conflicting 
elements  under  one  strong  hand,  viz.  through  the  establishment 
of  the  Kamakura  Bakufu. 

20.  Compare  Chapter  V,  Sect.  G,  Subsect.  2. 

21.  Kwannon  (Sk.  Avalokitesvara)  is  usually  spoken  of  by 
Western  writers  on  Chinese  and  Japanese  Buddhism  as  feminine, 
but  this  is  not  exactly  accurate.  Avalokitesvara  probably 
means  "The  One  Who  Looks  Down  from  Above,"  i.e.  one  who 
looks  down  upon  suffering  humanity  with  compassion.  Whether 
this  Bodhisattva  is  masculine  or  feminine  is  really  beside  the 
mark,  for  all  beings  that  have  reached  the  Bodhisattva  state  are 
above  sex  distinctions.  Kwannon,  or  Kwannon-sama,  plays  a 
very  big  role  in  Japanese  Buddhism,  and  perhaps  no  temple  in  all 
Japan  is  as  popular  as  the  famous  Kwannon  temple  in  Asakusa, 
Tokyo.  The  distinctive  attribute  of  this  deity,  \'iz.  mercy  and 
compassion,  is  usually  represented  in  a  very  realistic  way  by  an 
image  with  many  hands,  hands  that  are  ever  ready  to  help  the 
needy. 

22.  The  Bosatsu  H6z5  is  said  to  have  lived  about  ten  Kalpas 
ago.  Now  the  length  of  a  Kalpa  is  variously  estimated.  One 
way  to  measure  it  is  to  think  of  a  castle  10,000  miles  in  cube 
filled  with  mustard  seeds.  A  little  bird  comes  once  every  three 
years  and  takes  out  one  grain.  When  this  huge  storehouse  has 
been  emptied  in  this  way  then  one  Kalpa  has  elapsed.     Or  an- 


340  NOTES 

other  way  to  measure  the  length  of  a  Kalpa  is  to  imagine  a 
mountain  of  granite.  A  little  bird  occasionally  flies  over  it 
and  accidentally  touches  it  with  its  wings.  When  the  moun- 
tain has  thus  been  worn  away  to  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
plain  then  one  Kalpa  has  elapsed.  It  is  perhaps  needless  to 
say  that  Hozo  Bosatsu  has  not  a  shred  of  historicity  about  him, 
but  is  purely  the  invention  of  the  pious  imagination. 

23.  This  great  vow  is  really  only  one  of  forty-eight  which 
Hozo  is  supposed  to  have  made.  It  is  the  famous  eighteenth 
vow  and  reads  as  follows :  "  If  when  I  have  attained  Buddha- 
hood,  all  beings  in  the  Ten  Quarters  (i.e.  the  universe),  who  with 
a  heart  of  faith  desire  to  be  born  into  my  country  and  call  upon 
my  name,  do  not  attain  their  desire,  then  I  shall  not  enter  [the 
joys  of]  full  enlightenment." 

24.  Buddhist  psychology  usually  speaks  of  six  organs  of 
sense,  adding  to  the  five  senses  ordinarily  recognized  the  Will, 
or  something  which  corresponds  roughly  to  what  Western  psy- 
chologists mean  by  the  Will. 

25.  The  Zen  Sect  is  not  the  only  one  which  holds  this  view 
of  human  knowledge,  but  the  true  Zen  follower,  at  least  in  his 
moments  of  silent  meditation  and  contemplation,  is  perhaps 
more  consistent  in  his  religious  application  of  this  theory  of 
human  knowledge  than  are  the  adherents  of  other  sects. 

26.  This  statement  is  a  good  illustration  of  how  in  Zen 
thought  and  in  Buddhist  thought  generally  the  human  self 
merges  with  the  Universal  Self.  The  individual  begins  his  medi- 
tations by  getting  rid  of  all  individual  objects  of  thought  until 
he  finally  is  supposed  to  lay  hold  on  the  one  and  only  object  of 
thought.  It  is,  however,  no  longer  the  individual  mind  that 
does  this,  but  it  is  rather  the  Universal  Mind  in  the  individual 
that  becomes  conscious  of  itself.  "The  Entity  that  never 
changes  will  appear."  It  will  appear  not  to  the  individual  mind 
as  such,  but  only  as  the  individual  mind  has  become  the  Abso- 
lute Mind. 

27.  The  reason  the  Zen  leaders  made  the  military  capital  of 
Japan  the  center  of  their  activity  is  because  the  Kamakura 
authorities  encouraged  them  to  do  so  by  showering  all  sorts  of 
substantial  favors  upon  them.  Just  as  Emperor  Kwammu 
when  he  built  his  new  capital  at  Kyoto  had  encouraged  a  new 
type  of  Buddhism  in  the  form  of  the  Tendai  and  Shingon  sects 
in  order  to  play  them  off  against  the  old  Nara  sects  and  their 
power,  so  Yoritomo  and  his  successors  at  Kamakura  were  care- 


NOTES  341 

ful  to  provide  themselves  with  priests  and  diviners  who  would 
be  loyal  to  them  and  their  ambitions  as  over  against  the  Kyoto 
authorities  who  had  on  the  whole  the  older  Buddhist  sects  as 
their  supporters.  It  must  be  remembered  that  in  the  great 
political  struggle  of  the  twelfth  century,  which  resulted  in  shift- 
ing the  real  administrative  power  of  the  empire  from  Kyoto  to 
Kamakura,  the  Buddhist  priests  and  monks  played  a  big  part. 
This  was  so  not  only  because  the  leading  monasteries  controlled 
considerable  military  power,  but  because  even  the  most  blatant 
and  high-handed  warriors  of  that  age  believed  firmly  in  the 
magic  powers  of  the  clever  and  unscrupulously  ambitious  priests. 
Hence  temples  had  to  be  built  in  order  that  unholy  ambitions 
and  selfish  schemes  might  be  sanctified  through  the  good  offices 
of  the  priests,  who  alone  had  access  to  the  superhuman  powers 
which  overrule  the  affairs  of  men. 

28.  When  Nichiren  arose,  the  work  of  Yoritomo  had  been 
accomplished.  The  Kamakura  shogunate  was  firmly  estab- 
lished and  the  emperor  at  Kyoto  had  been  deprived  of  all  but 
nominal  authority.  On  the  other  hand,  it  should  be  said  that 
if  Nichiren  had  been  better  acquainted  with  the  history  of  his 
country,  he  would  have  known  that  in  a  true  sense  the  country 
was  more  united  in  his  day  than  it  had  been  for  centuries.  The 
Kamakura  shogunate  had  succeeded  in  unifying  at  least  the 
military  strength  of  the  nation  and  in  giving  the  land  an  adminis- 
trative system  which  was  effective  and  on  the  whole  a  blessing. 

29.  This  is  one  of  the  few  cases  in  the  long  history  of  Japanese 
Buddhism  where  a  religious  leader  was  condemned  to  death ; 
and  it  should  be  observed  that  even  in  this  case  the  condem- 
nation was  not  so  much  for  his  religious  views  as  for  his  sup- 
posedly dangerous  political  views.  Religious  persecutions  in 
the  severe  forms  which  medieval  Europe  witnessed  were  prac- 
tically unknown  in  Japan.  The  most  severe  form  was  usually 
banishment  to  some  remote  part  of  the  empire  which,  as  we  saw 
in  the  case  of  Shinran,  e.g.,  was  not  always  an  unmixed  evil. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  causes  which 
led  to  persecution  were  usually  far  less  noble  than  in  Europe, 
and  frequently  were  of  a  very  sordid  nature.  "But  what  was 
known  as  a  'persecution'  in  medieval  Japan,"  writes  Murdoch, 
"was  of  a  comparatively  mild  nature.  Into  the  punishment  of 
heresy,  the  rack,  the  stake,  and  the  faggot  never  found  any 
entrance ;  banishment  to  some  remote  part  of  the  empire  was 
the  severest  penalty  inflicted ;  and  it  was  inflicted,  not  so  much 


342  NOTES 

for  preaching  new  and  strange  doctrines,  as  for  provoking  popu- 
lar tumults  and  breaches  of  the  peace.  It  is  true  that  for 
generations  the  priests  had  been  the  most  turbulent  class  in 
Japan,  and  that  when  the  Great  Monasteries  in  the  Home 
Provinces  were  not  at  actual  warfare  with  each  other,  their 
mutual  relations  were  little  more  satisfactory  than  those  of  an 
armed  truce.  But  to  dignify  their  broils  and  squabbles  with 
the  name  of  religious  wars  would  be  entirely  beside  the  mark. 
Such  bloodshed  as  there  was  took  place,  not  in  defense  of  dis- 
puted points  of  doctrine,  or  of  any  abstract  theological  proposi- 
tions whatever.  From  first  to  last,  in  some  shape  or  other,  it 
was  all  merely  a  question  of  loaves  and  fishes,  for  the  considera- 
tions that  provoked  these  armed  ecclesiastical  debates  were 
generally  of  the  earth  earthy,  and  not  infrequently  sordidly  so." 

30.  The  Zen,  Shin  and  Nichiren  sects  in  particular  preempted 
the  Kwanto ;  the  Jodo,  for  some  reason  or  other,  failed  to  get 
much  of  a  hold  here  for  several  centuries  but  found  its  great 
following  among  the  cultured  civilians  of  the  Kyoto  region. 
Emperors  Shirakawa  II.,  Takakura  and  even  the  astute  Toba  II. 
were  followers  of  Honen,  though  this  may  have  been  due  simply 
to  the  fact  that  they  sought  thus  to  develop  a  new  force  which 
they  might  play  off  against  the  powerful  Hieizan  priests  when 
occasion  demanded  it.  At  any  rate  their  names  gave  prestige 
to  the  Jodo  Sect  and  enabled  it  to  gain  very  speedily  a  strong 
hold  in  the  territory  of  the  older  sects.  The  influence  of  the 
Jodo  Sect  in  the  Kwanto  became  marked  with  the  rise  of  the 
Tokugawa  shogunate. 

31.  This  tolerant  attitude  of  the  Buddhist  philosophers  was 
not  exactly  a  characteristic  of  the  average  Buddliist  monk  of 
this  period.  Or  if  it  is  true  that  they  were  tolerant  of  doctrines 
that  differed  from  their  own,  they  certainly  showed  a  different 
spirit  when  their  economic  interests  clashed  with  those  of  their 
brethren  in  the  faith.     Compare  note  29  above. 

32.  Hideyoshi  does  not  only  compare  favorably  with  the  mili- 
tary statesmen  of  his  own  land,  but  some  would  even  class  him 
with  Cfesar  and  Napoleon.  As  a  matter  of  fact  his  ambitions, 
if  not  his  ability,  were  apparently  no  less  than  theirs ;  for  the 
pacification  of  Japan  was  to  have  been  only  the  beginning  of 
his  program.  Standing  beside  the  image  of  the  great  Yoritomo 
one  day  he  expressed  his  ambitious  dreams  as  follows :  "  You 
are  my  friend.  You  took  all  the  power  under  Heaven  [i.e. 
Japan].     You  and  I,  only,  have  been  able  to  do  this  ;   but  you 


NOTES  343 

were  of  an  illustrious  family,  and  not  like  me,  sprung  from  the 
tillers  of  the  earth.  My  ultimate  purpose  is  to  conquer  not 
only  all  that  is  under  Heaven  [Japan],  but  even  China.  What 
think  you  of  that?"  While  he  was  unable  to  make  good  this 
boast,  he  did  succeed  in  giving  China  cause  for  anxiety,  and  his 
power  was  felt  along  the  entire  coast  of  Eastern  Asia,  and  even 
the  Spaniards  in  the  Philippines  were  made  to  realize  that  he 
was  a  man  with  whom  they  had  to  reckon. 

33.  Occasionally  individual  Buddhists  like  the  Tendai  priest 
Tenkai  or  the  Zen  priest  Takuan  exerted  great  influence  in  the 
affairs  of  state,  but  this  was  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
influence  exercised  in  the  days  when  even  the  emperors  preferred 
the  cloister  to  the  throne  and  from  these  places  of  retirement 
wielded  their  power. 

34.  A  point  which  Western  students  of  things  Japanese 
usually  overlook  is  that  the  formalism  and  that  strict  observ- 
ance of  all  the  niceties  of  an  elaborate  etiquette  which  often 
seems  to  put  a  straight  jacket  upon  the  normal  and  free  develop- 
ment of  human  personality,  is  really  no  more  inherently  natural 
to  the  Japanese  than  to  any  other  people.  It  is  largely  the 
product  of  a  studied  effort  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  in  the  Toku- 
gawa  period.  WTiat  strikes  the  student  of  Japanese  history  is 
that  the  men  and  women  back  of  that  period  seem  more  like 
the  free  Westerner  in  their  spirit  than  like  the  older  Japanese 
of  the  present  generation.  We  say  the  "older  Japanese"  of  the 
present  generation  advisedly,  for  any  one  acquainted  with  the 
younger  elements  must  know  that  the  love  for  freedom  and  un- 
trammeled  self-expression  is  as  strong  with  the  young  men  and 
women  of  Japan  as  it  is  even  with  Americans. 

35.  This  statement  may  seem  to  be  contradicted  by  what  was 
said  about  the  constructive  influence  which  Buddhism  exerted 
during  the  great  reconstruction  days  of  the  Taikwa  reforms,  but 
there  is  really  no  contradiction  involved.  The  constructive 
influence  which  Buddhism  exerted  in  those  days  did  not  spring 
from  the  forces  inherent  in  Buddhism  as  such,  but  rather  from 
the  fact  that  Buddhism  was  the  vehicle  of  the  superior  continen- 
tal civilization  whose  chief  elements  were  other  than  Buddhist. 

36.  The  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Government  to  foster 
patriotism  by  forcing  teachers  and  pupils  in  the  primary  schools 
to  visit  and  make  obeisance  at  the  National  Shrines  from  time 
to  tiiBe  has  led  to  real  difficulties.  No  matter  what  the  official 
world  may  say  about  the  clear  distinction  between  these  National 


344  NOTES 

Shrines  and  the  ordinary  ShintS  shrines,  the  people  in  general 
do  not  make  such  a  distinction ;  and  therefore  to  make  obei- 
sance at  the  National  Shrines  is  regarded  by  them  as  having  a 
real  religious  significance.  It  is  more  than  merely  showing  re- 
spect for  national  heroes ;  it  is  real  religious  worship.  Not 
only  do  Japanese  Christians  object  to  being  compelled  to  wor- 
ship at  such  shrines  but  the  Buddhists,  too,  feel  that  it  interferes 
with  their  religious  liberty.  Of  course,  both  Christians  and 
Buddhists  are  as  loyal  Japanese  as  are  the  Shintoists  and  they 
do  not  hesitate  to  show  all  due  respect  to  national  heroes,  but 
they  feel  that  the  distinction  which  the  Government  is  trying  to 
make  is  really  an  absurd  one.  It  is  absurd  for  the  simple  reason 
that  many  of  the  national  heroes  of  Japan  have  in  the  course  of 
the  centuries  been  deified,  and  religion  and  patriotism  from  a 
Shinto  standpoint  have  been  one.  If  the  Government  really 
wants  to  be  consistent  and  make  its  position  rational,  it  will 
have  to  go  one  step  further  and  say  that  these  national  heroes 
who  in  the  past  have  been  deified  are  really  only  great  men 
and  not  gods,  and  that  they  should  receive  only  such  reverence 
as  is  due  to  great  men.  Japanese  Christians  yield  to  none  in 
true  loyalty  to  their  country  and  the  country's  great  heroes,  but 
they  shall  ever  insist  that  there  must  be  a  distinction  between 
the  respect  and  reverence  given  to  great  men  and  that  reverence 
and  worship  given  to  God  and  to  God  only.  The  truth  of  the 
matter  is  that  this  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Government  to 
make  this  separation  between  National  Shrines  and  the  ordinary 
Shinto  shrines  is  simply  one  of  those  naive  efforts  which  are 
being  made  by  statesmen  to-day  to  bridge  the  chasm  between 
the  old  and  the  new.  It  is  an  effort  which  seeks  to  preserve 
the  old  spirit  of  loyalty  and  patriotism  and  at  the  same  time 
shift  it  from  its  old  basis  of  the  traditional  emperor-  and  hero- 
worship  to  a  new  basis  of  loyalty  to  human  rulers  and  institu- 
tions ;  and  in  making  this  shift  they  are  trying  to  occupy  first 
a  halfway  position.  A  halfway  position,  however,  cannot 
satisfy  either  the  adherents  of  the  old  nor  the  advocates  of  the 
new,  and  so  more  or  less  friction  over  this  point  may  be  expected 
for  some  time  to  come. 

Chapter  IV 

1.   The  Tokyo  edition  of  the  Buddhist  canon  contains  about 
400  vols,  and  the  Kyoto  edition  about  250  vols.     Another  series. 


NOTES  345 

of  about  750  vols.,  published  in  Kyoto  contains  the  Chinese 
commentaries  and  exegetical  works.  But  in  addition  to  these 
presentations  of  works  in  Chinese,  two  other  series  are  being 
published  containing  the  literature  of  Japanese  Buddhism,  each 
series  having  about  200  vols. 

2.  The  writings  of  the  founders  of  Japanese  sects  are  some- 
times of  greater  importance  to  the  average  adherent  than  are 
the  regular  canonical  books.  Thus,  e.g.,  the  writings  of  Shin- 
ran  mean  far  more  to  the  Shin  Sect  than  all  but  three  or  four 
books  of  the  official  canon  as  received  from  China. 

3.  The  Pali  canon  is  really  only  a  canon  of  one  of  the  earlier 
sects  and  not  of  Southern  Buddhism  as  a  whole.  It  is  quite 
likely  that  each  of  the  various  schools  in  early  Buddhism  had 
its  own  arrangement  of  the  scriptures  and  that  these  differed 
somewhat  from  each  other.  But  if  this  is  the  case,  then  all 
these  various  redactions  have  been  lost  except  in  so  far  as  they 
may  be  preserved  in  the  voluminous  Northern  canon. 

4.  The  Chinese  canon  has  as  its  core  the  older  Sanskrit  canon, 
i.e.  translations  from  the  Sanskrit  pure  and  simple.  But  it 
has  also  a  great  many  books  written  originally  in  Chinese.  And 
the  canon  in  Japan  in  the  wider  sense  has  in  the  same  way 
many  books  written  originally  in  Japanese. 

5.  Compare  H.  Haas,  Der  Kcmon  dcs  Buddhismus  in  Japan. 
Mittcilungcn  der  Deutschen  Gesellschaft  fur  Natur-  und  Volker- 
kundc  Ostasiens.     Band  x,  Teil  1,  pp.  106  ff. 

6.  Even  conservatives  regard  Asvaghosha  as  the  one  who 
really  made  Mahayana  Buddhism  known,  and  they  look  upon 
his  "Awakening  of  Faith"  as  the  real  cornerstone  of  this  type 
of  faith.  But,  of  course,  they  would  insist  that  this  was  not 
really  original  with  him  and  that  he  simply  transmitted  what  he 
had  received  in  secret.  The  liberals,  on  the  other  hand,  would  say 
that  the  work  was  original  with  Asvaghosha,  but  that  it  was  really 
only  an  elaboration  and  development  of  S'akyamuni's  teachings. 

7.  About  one  hundred  years  after  the  Buddha's  death  Bud- 
dhism had  divided  into  two  great  divisions  with  various  subdivi- 
sions. The  two  great  divisions  or  schools  were  the  Maha- 
samghikah  (School  of  the  Great  Assembly)  and  the  Sthavira 
(School  of  the  Chairman).  From  the  first  of  these  there  de- 
veloped in  the  course  of  time  the  following  eight  branches : 
Ekavyaharikah,  Lokottaravadinah,  Kukkulikah,  Bahusrutiyah, 
Prajnaptivadinah,  Jetavaniyah,  Aparasailah,  Uttarasailah. 
From  the  Sthavira  developed  Sarvastivadah  and  from  this  came 


346  NOTES 

first  the  Vastiputriyah  which  in  turn  divided  into  four  branches, 
viz.,  Dharmottarah,  Bhadrayanikah,  Saramitiyah  and  Sanna- 
garikah.  A  second  branch  of  the  Sarvastivadah  was  the  Malu- 
sasakah  which  gave  rise  to  the  Dharmaguptah.  And  after  this 
there  arose  still  two  further  branches  from  the  Sarvastivadah, 
viz.,  Kasyapiyah  and  Sautrantikah.  These  divisions  and  sub- 
divisions are  what  is  meant  by  the  so-called  eighteen  or  twenty 
sects  of  Hinayana  Buddhism  which  were  in  existence  at  the 
time  of  the  second  Great  Council  of  Buddhism,  the  Council  of 
Vaisali.  But  it  is  hardly  correct  to  designate  them  as  sects  of 
Hinayana  Buddhism,  for  the  term  Hinayana  was  probably  not 
coined  till  several  centuries  later. 

Chapter  V 

1.  The  Twelve  Links  of  the  Karma-chain  are  known  in 
Japanese  by  various  terms,  such  as  :  Juni  Inen,  Juni  Insh5,  Juni 
Yushi,  Juni  Engi  and  Juni  Enmon.  These  terms  differ  a  little 
in  the  atmosphere  that  surrounds  them,  but  all  are  attempts  to 
express  the  meaning  of  the  chain  of  existence.  Sometimes  the 
order  of  these  links  is  inverted,  so  that  the  first  link  of  Igno- 
rance is  given  as  the  last  link,  and  the  last  link  as  the  first.  The 
order  depends  upon  whether  one  reasons  from  effect  back  to 
cause  or  starts  with  the  cause  and  proceeds  to  the  effect.  Fol- 
lowing the  order  we  have  given,  the  Sanskrit  and  Japanese 
terms  are  as  below : 

(1)  Ignorance  (Sk.  Avidya,  Jap.  Mumyo). 

(2)  Latent  Impressions  (Sk.  Samskara,  Jap.  Gy5). 

(3)  Thought-substance  (Sk.  Vidjnana,  Jap.  Shiki). 

(4)  Name  and  Form  (Sk.  Namarupa,  Jap.  Myoshiki). 

(5)  The  Six  Roots  (Sk.  Chadayatana,  Jap.  Rokusho). 

(6)  Contact  (Sk.  Sparsa,  Jap.  Shoku). 

(7)  Sensation  (Sk.  Vedana,  Jap.  Ju). 

(8)  Desire  (Sk.  Trichna,  Jap.  Ai). 

(9)  Clinging  to  Existence  (Sk.  Upadana,  Jap.  Shu). 

(10)  Becoming  (Sk.  Bhava,  Jap.  Yu). 

(11)  Birth  (Sk.  Djati,  Jap.  Sho). 

(12)  Decrepitude  and  Death  (Sk.  Djaramavana,  Jap.  RSshi). 

2.  Compare  note  11,  Chapter  I. 

3.  This  division  of  every  universe  into  three  realms,  or  classes 
of  beings,  like  so  many  other  things  in  Buddhism,  was  borrowed 
from  Brahmanism.     It  is  an  imitation  of  the  Brahmanic  Four 


NOTES  347 

Worlds  (Bhuvanatraya) ;  only  that  Buddhists  substitute  for 
the  physical  categories,  Earth,  Heaven  and  Atmosphere  of  the 
Brahmans,  the  ethical  or  spiritual  categories  of  Desire,  Pure 
Form  and  Formlessness. 

4.  In  addition  to  these  eight  Hot  Hells  and  eight  Cold  Hells 
one  finds  mention  of  eight  Dark  Hells,  ten  Larger  Cold  Hells 
with  a  hundred  million  smaller  hells  attached  to  each,  and  84,000 
Smaller  Cold  Hells.  In  no  sphere  has  the  Indian  imagination 
been  more  extravagant  than  in  this.  Japan  has  taken  on  some 
of  this  rubbish  as  may  be  seen  especially  from  such  a  writing 
as  Genshin's  description  of  the  Buddhist  hells ;  but,  after  all, 
the  Japanese  mind  has  never  lost  itself  very  seriously  in  such 
morbid  speculations. 

5.  Zendo  is  regarded  as  the  fifth  of  the  seven  great  Church 
Fathers  of  the  Shin  Sect  who  preceded  Shinran.  These  seven 
are  the  two  Indians,  Nagarjuna  and  Vasubandhu,  the  three 
Chinese,  Donran,  Doshaku  and  Zendo,  and  the  two  Japanese, 
Genshin  and  Genku. 

6.  The  Six  Virtues  (Sk.  Faramita)  are  known  in  Japanese  as 
the  Roku  Baramitsu  (Baramitsu  is  simply  a  transliteration  of 
Paramita),  or  Rokudo  (Six  Crossings).  These  Six  Virtues  are 
the  following :  Charity  (Sk.  Dana,  Jap.  Fuse),  Morality,  i.e. 
Keeping  the  Commandments  (Sk.  Sila,  Jap.  Jikai),  Patience 
and  Forbearance  (Sk.  Kchanti,  Jap.  Ninniku),  Exertion  or  Dili- 
gence (Sk.  Virya,  Jap.  Shojun),  Meditation  (Sk.  Dhyana,  Jap. 
Zenj5)  and  Wisdom  (Sk.  Pradjna,  Jap.  Chie). 

Sometimes  four  other  virtues  are  added  to  these  six,  making 
thus  the  so-called  Ten  Virtues,  or  Ten  Crossings  (Jap.  Judo). 
These  added  four  are :  Use  of  Proper  Means  (Sk.  Upaya,  Jap. 
Hoben),  Knowledge  or  Science  (Sk.  Djnana,  Jap.  Chi,  or  Jakuna), 
Pious  Vows  (Sk.  Pranidhana,  Jap.  Gwan)  and  Force  of  Pur- 
pose (Sk.  Bala,  Jap.  Goriki ;  literally  meaning,  Five  Powers). 
Compare  Chapter  VI,  Sect.  B,  Subsect.  2. 

7.  The  Four  Great  Vows  (Jap.  Shiguseigwan)  must  be  made 
and  fulfilled  by  all  Bodhisattvas.  Some  Bodhisattvas,  however, 
bind  themselves  by  even  more  self-sacrificing  vows  than  these. 
Thus  we  have  the  famous  Forty-eight  Vows  of  Amida  made  by 
him  before  he  entered  the  Buddha  state,  and  especially  the 
famous  Eighteenth  Vow  of  these  forty-eight  in  which  this  un- 
selfish Bodhisattva  declared  that  he  would  not  enter  the  bliss 
of  Buddhahood  until  he  had  worked  out  a  way  of  salvation  for 
all  beings. 


348  NOTES 

8.  Though  the  Paradise  doctrine  is  a  very  popular  one  with 
the  masses  in  Japan,  there  are  some  Buddhists  who  regard  this 
desire  to  be  born  into  Paradise  as  the  worst  kind  of  evil  Karma, 
which  really  lands  the  one  who  has  it  in  Hell.  "  The  heart  that 
desires  Paradise  is  already  in  Hell.  In  the  case  of  Shaka  (S'akya- 
muni)  or  a  deity  there  is  no  Paradise." 

9.  There  are  some  Buddhist  scriptures  which  may  not  cate- 
gorically deny  the  possibility  of  salvation  to  all  men  but  which 
nevertheless  seem  to  hold  out  very  little  hope  to  the  masses 
that  are  lost  in  sin  and  misery.  Thus  we  read,  "  A  blind  turtle 
and  a  floating  tree  are  more  likely  to  meet  and  see  each  other 
than  ignorant  and  stupid  humanity  is  to  obtain  the  body  of  a 
man."  That  is,  the  ignorant  masses  in  their  next  incarnation 
stand  very  little  chance  of  being  born  as  human  beings  but  will 
be  born  in  one  of  the  lower  four  realms.  Their  salvation  then 
from  the  bondages  of  this  evil  world  seems  almost  hopeless.  It 
is  only  when  one  measures  time  by  Kalpas  that  one  can  speak 
of  such  beings  as  attaining  salvation  ultimately. 

Chaptee  VI 

1.  Compare  Chapter  V,  Sect.  D,  Subsect.  5. 

2.  Compare  Chapter  II,  Sect.  B. 

3.  For  a  fuller  statement  of  this  Noble  Eightfold  Path  see 
Chapter  II,  Sect.  B,  Subsect.  2. 

4.  For  a  list  of  the  Ten  Virtues  which  differs  a  little  from 
this  one,  see  note  6  of  Chapter  V. 


SELECTED   BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  WORKS   IN 

JAPANESE 

Dictionaries. 

1.  Bonkan  Taiyaku  Bukkyo  Jiten      .     .     .       Dr.  U.  Hagiwara 
Sanskrit-Chinese  Buddhist  Dictionary. 

2.  Bukky5  Daijirin Hompa  Hongwanji 

Great  Dictionary  of  Buddhism. 

3.  Bukkyo  Jirin Fujii  and  Shimaji 

Buddhist  Dictionary.  _ 

4.  Bukkyo  Daijiten Tokuno  Ota 

Great  Dictionary  of  Buddhism. 

5.  Tetsugaku  Daijisho. 

Great  Dictionary  of  Philosophy. 

6.  Zenshu  Jiten. 
Dictionary  of  Zen  Sect. 

Texts  and  Commentaries. 

1.  Dai  Nippon  Bukkyo  Zensho. 

Collected  Literature  of  Japanese  Buddhism.  (This  great 
series  when  completed  will  contain  about  200  large  volumes. 
It  will  comprise  the  Chinese  Tripitaka,  original  Japanese 
works  and  standard  commentaries.) 

2.  Kokuyaku  Daizokyo. 

The  Canon  Translated  into  Japanese.  (This  is  a  work  of 
twelve  large  volumes  containing  translations  into  Japanese 
from  the  leading  Buddhist  scriptures.) 

3.  Bukkyo  Seiten Drs.  Murakami  and  Maeda 

Buddhist  Bible.  (Selections  from  the  leading  scriptures  ar- 
ranged topically.) 

4.  Jodoshu  Seiten. 

Bible  of  the  Jodo  Sect.  (Containing  the  "Basal  Scriptures" 
of  the  sect  and  standard  commentaries.) 

5.  Nichirenshu  Seiten. 
Bible  of  the  Nichiren  Sect. 

6.  Shingonshu  Seiten. 
Bible  of  the  Shingon  Sect. 

7.  Shinshti  Seiten. 
Bible  of  the  Shin  Sect. 

8.  Zenshu  Seiten. 
Bible  of  the  Zen  Sect. 

(The  material  in  numbers  3-8  is  contained,  of  course,  in 
number  1,  but  here  it  is  in  more  convenient  form  for  a  study 
of  the  particular  tenets  of  the  respective  sects.) 

349 


350        BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  WORKS  IN  JAPANESE 

Histories. 

1.  Indo  Bukkyo  Shiko Tetsu  Sakaino 

Historical  Outline  of  Indian  Buddhism. 

2.  Shina  Bukkyo  Shiko Koyo  Sakaino 

Historical  OutUne  of  Chinese  Buddhism. 

3.  Nihon  Bukkyo  Shiko Dr.  S.  Murakami 

Historical  OutUne  of  Japanese  Buddhism. 

4.  Daijo  Bukkyo  Shiron Dr.  E.  Maeda 

Historical  Essays  on  Mahayana  Buddhism. 

5.  Shinshu  Zenshi Dr.  S.  Murakami 

Complete  History  of  the  Shin  Sect. 

Biographical. 

1.  Shakamuni-den Profs.  T.  Inouye  and  K.  Hori 

Life  of  S'akyamuni. 

2.  Shakamuni-den Daijo  Tokiwa 

Life  of  S'akyamuni. 

3.  Nihon  Bukka  Jimmei  Jisho Junkei  Washio 

Biographical  Dictionary  of  Japanese  Buddhist  Monks. 

4.  Hokke  Gyoja  to  shite  no  Nichiren     .     .     .    Dr.  M.  Anezaki 
Nichiren  as  a  Follower  of  the  Lotus  of  Truth.     (The  EngUsh 

volume  is  called  "Nichiren,  the  Buddhist  Prophet.") 

5.  Shinran  Sh5nin  Den G.  Sasaki 

Life  of  Shinran  Shonin. 

Essays  and  Studies. 

1.  Butten  no  Kenkyu Dr.  B.  Matsumoto 

Studies  in  Buddhist  Canons. 

2.  Bukkyo  Gairon Dr.  S.  Murakami 

Outline  of  Buddhist  Doctrines. 

3.  Bukkyo  Toitsuron Dr.  S.  Murakami 

Buddhism     Unified.      (Vol.    I,    Daikoron,    Main    Outline; 

Vol.    II,  Butsudaron,    Buddhalogy ;    Vol.    Ill,    Genriron, 
Fundamental  Principles.) 

4.  Kompon  Bukkyo Dr.  M.  Anezaki 

Fundamental  Buddhism. 

5.  Daij5  Busseturon  Hiban Dr.  S.  Murakami 

Critical  Essays  on  Mahayana  Buddhism. 

6.  Genshin  Butsu  to  Hoshin  Butsu    .     .     .     .    Dr.  M.  Anezaki 
Buddha  Revealed  and  Buddha  as  Law. 

7.  Amida  Butsu  no  Kenkyu Ryukei  Yabuki 

Studies  on  Amida  Buddha. 

8.  Jodokyo  no  Kenkyu Shinkyo  Mochizuki 

Studies  in  the  Pure  Land  Teachings. 

9.  Mikkyo  K5y6 Raifu  Gonda 

Outlines  of  the  Mystery  Teachings. 

10.   Tendaishu  Koyo Dr.  E.  Maeda 

Outhnes  of  the  Tendai  Sect. 

Lectures  and  Comments. 

1.   Hekiganroku  Kowa Soen  Shaku 

Comments  on  the  Hekiganroku. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  WORKS  IN  JAPANESE        351 

Lectures  and  Comments  —  Continued. 

2.  Hokkekyo  Kogi Tokuno  Ota 

Lectures  on  the  Hokkekyo. 

3.  Shoshinge  Kowa Tei  Tada 

Comments  on  the  Shoshinge.  ; 

(The   classical  commentaries   and   comments   by  Japanese 

writers  of  the  past  are  contained  in  Dai  Nippon  Bukkyo 

Zensho  mentioned  above.) 


INDEX 


Abelard,  163. 

Abhidharma-Kosa-Sastra  Sect,  86. 

Abhidharma-Pitaka,  166  ff. 

Abhidharma  Sects,  91. 

Abrupt  Way  of  Salvation,  262  ff. 

Absolute,  The,  in  Amidaism,  217  ff. ; 
of  Buddhist  Philosophy,  187,  212 ; 
of  Fichte,  187 ;  in  Mahayana, 
196  ff. ;  as  Moral  Wisdom  in 
Confucianism,  145 ;  as  the  Un- 
knowable, 325  ;    Shinnyo,  196  ff. 

Absolute  Truth,  184,  210,  267,  320  ff. 

Accommodated  Truth,  184,  210,  221, 
267. 

.^ons,  Decreasing-increasing,  265  ff. 

Agamas  (Nikayas),  169,  175. 

Aggregates  (Skandhas),  The  Five, 
36,  193,  334. 

Agni,  16. 

Agnosticism,  in  Buddhism,  230,  309, 
320,  322,  327 ;   in  Zen  Sect,  216. 

Ajatasatru,  44. 

Akechi  Mitsuliide,  138. 

Akshobhya,  96. 

Alambanas,  193. 

Alexander,  of  Epirus,  54. 

Alexander  the  Great,  53,  54, 

Altruism,  in  Bodhisattva  ideal,  271. 

Amaterasu,  98,  151,  227,  231,  337. 

Amida  (Amitabha),  71,  250,  322; 
as  Absolute,  217,  220 ;  and  Ama- 
terasu, 99  ;  as  Compensation  Body 
of  Buddha,  223 ;  Creator,  Father, 
217 ;  Grace  of,  60,  91 ;  as  Hozo 
Bosatsu,  111;  Image  of,  105; 
Karma,  305 ;  Paradise  of,  60, 
107;  in  Practical  Religion,  323; 
as  Personal  God,  218,  220  ff. ;  as 
Personification  of  Mercy,  224 ; 
Polytheism,  219  ff. ;  as  Popular 
Deity,  227;  Salvation  of,  60,  70, 
91 ;  Vairochana,  96 ;  Vows  of,  60, 
220. 

Amidaism,  Beginnings  of,  71,  111, 
218;  in  Japan,  104  ff. ;  Compari- 
son with  Gautama's  Religion, 
110  ff. ;  God-idea  in,  217  ff. ; 
Relation  to  Nestorianism,  218  ff. ; 
S'akyamuni  in,  112. 


Amidakyo,  178. 

Amida  Sects,  93,  104  ff, 

Amitabha  (see  also  Amida),  60,  70, 
71,  72,  SO,  91,  96,  99. 

Amitayur-Dhyana-Sutra,  59,  173. 

Ananda,  44  ff. 

Anatma,  329. 

Ancestor  worship,  72,  76. 

Anezaki,  272,  273. 

Animism,  16,  67. 

Anitya,  329. 

Anniliilation,  Doctrine  of,  244, 

Anshikao,  72,  73. 

Antigonus  Gonatas,  54. 

Antinomianism,  258. 

Antiochus  Theos,  54. 

Apotheosis,  230,  231. 

Arakan  (Arhat),  266. 

Aranyakas,  15. 

Architecture,  Buddhist,  299. 

Arhat,  37,  38,  208,  209;  Contrast 
with  Bodhisattva,  60. 

Arhatship,  56. 

Arnold,  Sir  Edwin,  13. 

Art,  Buddhist,  85,  100,  135,  299,  337. 

Arupadhatu,  206. 

Aryan  Conquerors,  14. 

Aryasatyani,  or  Aryanisatyani,  330. 

Asakusa  Temple,  313,  339. 

Asanga,  64  ff.,  97,  336. 

Asceticism  of  Gautama,  24. 

Ashikaga  Shoguns,  131,  135. 

A'soka,  52  ff.,  171,  175,  355;  Stone 
Inscriptions  of,  54,  328. 

Aston,  88. 

Asuras,  203. 

Asvaghosha,  64  ff.,  175,  218,  336; 
Life  of  Buddha,  66;  "Awakening 
of  Faith,"  66 ;  Relation  to  S'akya- 
muni, 345. 

Atago,  227. 

Atheism,  of  Gautama,  39  ff. ;  of 
Zen  Sect,  212,  214  ff. 

Atman,  17. 

Avalokitesvara  (see  also  Kwannon), 
96,  229,  239. 

Avatamsaka-Sutra,  72. 

Avidya,  346. 

Awakening,  Sects  of  the  Great,  102  ff. 


2a 


353 


354 


INDEX 


"Awakening  of  Faith,"  of  Asva- 
ghosha,  66. 

Bairat,  Edict  of,  170. 

Bakufu,  Kamakura,  339. 

"Basal  Scriptures,"  178,  181. 

Beasts,  Realm  of,  203. 

Becoming,  as  tenth  of  the  Twelve 
Nidanas,  190,  346. 

Benares,  23  ;   Sermon  of,  28. 

Benten,  or  Benzaiten,  227. 

Bhava,  346. 

Bhutan,  Buddhism  of,  10. 

Bible,  158,  178,  181,  182. 

Bibles,  Buddhist  Sectarian,  311. 

Bidon  Sect,  336. 

Bimbisara,  23,  44. 

Bin,  Buddliist  Priest,  338. 

Binzuru,  227,  249. 

Biroshana,  88. 

Birth,  as  eleventh  of  Twelve  Nidanas, 
190,  .346. 

Bishamon,  228. 

Bodhidharma,  74,  75. 

Bodhisattva,  Altruism  of,  56,  172, 
173  ;  Contrast  with  Arhat,  60 ;  as 
third  of  Four  Holies,  207,  208. 

Bodhisattva  State,  56,  266. 

Bosatsu  (see  Bodhisattva),  208. 

Brahma,  16 ;   as  Deva  King,  229. 

Brahman,  as  Monistic  Principle,  16, 
25  ;    union  with,  20. 

Brahman-Atman,  17. 

Brahmanas,  14. 

Brahmanaspati,  16. 

Brahmanism,  44,  53,  164 ;  Gods  of, 
32. 

Brahmi,  170. 

Brahmins,  11,  22,  42,  53. 

Brinkley,  301. 

Buddha,  The,  Birth  of,  22  ff. ;  Death 
and  Burial,  22,  47;  Enlighten- 
ment, 25 ;  First  disciples,  42 ; 
Life,  13,  22  ff.,  43  ff. ;  Names  of, 
23,  329;  Preexistence,  57;  Re- 
ligion of,  13,  23  ff.,  49. 

Buddha(s),  The  Eternal,  58,  67,  95; 
as  Noumenon,  221 ;  as  highest  of 
the  Four  Holies,  207,  208 ;  Number 
of,  58. 

Buddhahood,  of  Gautama,  25 ;  of 
Araida,  60. 

Buddha-Field,  69. 

Buddha-Karita,  of  Asvaghosha,  66. 

Buddha  vatamsaka-Mahavaipulya- 
Sutra,  172. 

Buddha-World,  221. 

Buddhism  (see  Table  of  Contents). 


Burma,  Buddhism  of,  10,  55. 
Burmese  Alphabet,  170. 
Bushido,  148. 
Butsu  (see  Buddha),  208. 

Cffisar,  342. 

Canon  of  Buddhism,  158-182 ;  Books 
of,  167  ff. ;  Catalogue  of,  158  ff. ; 
Contents  of,  9,  163  ff. ;  Contradic- 
tions in,  163,  171 ;  Date  of,  53, 
163 ;  Differences  between  North- 
ern and  Southern,  162  ;  Divisions 
of,  165  ff. ;  Editions  of,  160,  161  ff. ; 
Languages  of,  11,  169;  Northern, 
158  ff. ;  Pali,  10,  11,  158,  160  ff. ; 
Practical  Use  of  in  Japan,  172  ff. ; 
Size  of,  9,  158,  179. 

Cashmere,  Buddhism  in,  55. 

Caste.  42. 

"Catalogue  of  Buddhist  Tripitaka," 
160. 

Catholic,  Mission,  136  ff. ;  Church, 
163. 

Causal-Nexus  (see  also  Karma),  35, 
199,  330,  334. 

Celibacj-,  and  Ancestor  worship,  77. 

Ceylon,  Buddhism  in,  10,  55. 

Ceylon  Chronicles,  55,  329. 

Chadayatana,  346. 

Chamberlain,  100. 

Chandragupta,  54. 

Chi  Kai,  91,  171,  174,  176. 

Chiko,  105. 

Chikusho,  203. 

China,  Buddhism  in,  10,  70  ff. 

Chinese,  Buddhist  Sects,  78,  336. 

Chiron  Sect,  336. 

Chitatsu,  86. 

Chitsu,  86. 

Cho  Densu,  300. 

Christ,  1,  147,  154,  260,  275,  277. 

Christianity,  1,  3,  5,  6,  7,  9,  63,  136, 
146,  154,  269,  272  ff.,  309,  314,  344. 

Church  Fathers,  of  Shin  Sect,  347. 

Clinging  to  Existence,  as  ninth  of 
Twelve  Nidanas,  190,  346. 

Commandments,  Ten  Buddhist,  43, 
277,  279,  280. 

Compensation  Body  of  Buddha, 
221  ff. 

Completion,  First  Stage  of  a  Universe, 
200. 

Compromise,  Spirit  of  in  Buddhism, 
5,  67,  99. 

Comte,  4,  269,  323. 

Confucianism  (see  also  Neo-Con- 
fucianism),  1,  3,  8,  73,  295  ff. 

Confucians,  63. 


INDEX 


355 


Confucius,  328. 

Contact,    as    sixth    of    the    Twelve 

Nidanas,  190,  346. 
Contradictions,    in    Buddhism,    163, 

171,  321. 
Cosmos,    Buddhist    Conception    of, 

200  ff. 
Councils  of  Buddhism,  53,  54,  335. 
Cumont,  62,  260. 

Daigo,  Emperor,  102. 

Daijo  (see  also  Mahayana),  165. 

Daikoku,  228. 

Daimuryojukyo,  173,  178. 

Dainichi,  124,  228. 

Dai  Nihon  Shi,  150. 

Daiseishi,  228. 

Daizokyo  (see  Canon),  161  £f. 

Dante,  103,  203. 

Darwin,  309. 

Dazai  Shundai,  148. 

Decrepitude  and  Death,  as  last  of 
the  Twelve  Nidanas,  190,  346. 

Dengyo  Daishi,  89,  90  S.,  105,  116, 
123. 

Desire,  as  eighth  of  Twelve  Nidanas, 
190,  239,  346. 

Destruction,  Third  Stage  of  a  Uni- 
verse, 200. 

Devadatta,  44,  45. 

Devalakas,  205. 

Devas,  203,  205. 

Dharma  of  Non-duality,  186. 

Dharmakara  (see  also  Hozo  Bosatsu) , 
60. 

Dharmakaya,  208,  221  ft. 

Dharma-Lakshana  Sect,  86. 

Dhyanas,  205,  206. 

Dhyani  School  (see  also  Zen),  74,  75. 

Dialectics  of  Buddhism,  322. 

Diamond  World,  of  Shingon,  96. 

Differences  in  Things,  Doctrine  of, 
197  fif. 

"Ding  an  Sich,"  185.     ' 

Dioyagosha,  96. 

Discipleship,  42. 

Djaramavana,  346. 

Djati,  346. 

Dogen,  117. 

Dokyo,  89. 

Donran,  347. 

Dosen,  116. 

Doshaku,  347. 

D5sho,  86,  116. 

Dukha,  329,  330. 

Ebisu,  228. 

Eclecticism,    Confucian,    148,    149 ; 


Tendai,  93 ;  among  Modern 
Buddhists,  4. 

Edkins,  75,  158. 

Ego,  Doctrine  of,  27  ff.,  186. 

Egoism,  as  Cause  of  Sin,  278,  279. 

Ego-principle,  27. 

"Eighteenth  Vow,"  of  Amida,  347. 

"Eighty-four  Thousand  Doctrines," 
of  Buddhism,  321. 

Eisai,  116  ff. 

Ekwan,  125. 

Emanations,  Theory  of,  96. 

Emma-0,  228,  250. 

Enkaku,  208. 

Enlightened  One,  207,  208, 

Enon,  105. 

Enryakuji,  99,  101. 

Epiphanius,  55. 

Epistemology,  186  ff. 

Error,  Doctrine  of,  184  ff. 

Ethics,  Buddhist,  268-294;  General 
Aspects  of,  268  ff. ;  Two  Types, 
271,  274  ff. ;  Basis  of,  270,  273; 
Relation  to  Religion,  268  ff.,  324, 
325 ;  to  Confucianism,  144,  268 ; 
Relativity  of,  272,  273;  Defects 
of,  275,  319 ;  Quotations  from 
Scriptures,  283-294 ;  Contribution 
of  Buddhism  to,  306. 

Evil,  Doctrine  of,  238  ff. 

Existence,  Conception  of,  186,  191, 
192, 196 ff. 

Fah-Hian,  72. 

Faith,    Formula    of,    256,    283;     in 

Amidaism,    256   ff. ;     and    Works, 

11,  258. 
Fichte,  187. 
"Fighting   and    Bloodshed,"    Realm 

of,  203. 
Five  Aggregates,  The,  334. 
Five  Crimes,  The,  279. 
Five  Hindrances,  The,  278. 
Five  Impurities,  The,  279. 
Five  Lusts,  The,  278. 
Five  Organs  of  Virtue,  The,  281. 
Five  Periods  of  the  Buddha's  Minis- 
try, The,  165,  171  ff.,  338. 
Five  Precepts,  The,  208,  209. 
Five     Relations     of     Confucianism, 

The,  144. 
Five  Vices,  The,  278. 
Forty-two     Sections,    Sutra    of,    70, 

71,  208. 
Four  Formlessness  Regions,  The,  206. 
Four  Great  Vows  of  a  Bodhisattva, 

The,  243,  347. 
Four  Holies,  The,  207,  208,  209,  215. 


356 


INDEX 


Four  Noble  Truths,  The,  25,  28-32, 
118,  172,  237,  238,  330. 

Four  Regions,  Deities  of,  250. 

Four  Stages  of  a  Universe,  The,  265. 

Freneh-Indo  China,  Buddhism  in, 
10. 

Froez,  137. 

Fudo,  228. 

Fugen,  228. 

Fujiwara,  Family  of,  108,  146. 

Fujiwara  Seigwa,  146. 

Future  Life,  Doctrine  of  (see  Nir- 
vana), 113,  323. 

Gaki,  203. 

Garbe,  68. 

Gautama  (see  Buddha),  21,  22,  56  ff. 

Genku  (see  Honen),  106,  347. 

Genshin,  102  ff.,  106,  109,  219,  347. 

Gnosticism  in  Buddhism,  62. 

God-idea,  in  Pre-Buddhist  Thought, 
15-18;  of  Gautama,  38,  39;  of 
Asvaghosha,  66 ;  in  Japanese 
Buddhism,  210-233,  303  ff.,  322. 

Gokon,  193. 

Gondaijo,  165. 

Gongen,  228, 

Goriki,  193. 

Goun,  334. 

Gozan,  132. 

Grace,  Doctrine  of,  in  Primitive 
Buddhism,  69 ;  in  Amidaism, 
105  ff.,  254  ff. 

Gradual  Way  of  Salvation,  262  ff. 

Greek,  Art  Relics,  62 ;  Civilization, 
176. 

Gyogi  Bosatsu,  86,  88,  98,  105. 

Haas,  H.,  345. 

Hachiman,  99,  228,  231,  250. 

Hannya  Period,  173. 

Hattori  Tenyu,  151. 

Hayashi  Razan,  146,  150. 

Hearers,  207,  208. 

Heavenly  Beings,  205,  206. 

Heavens  of  Desire,  The  Six,  205. 

Hegel,  187,  198,  309. 

Heian  Period,  99,  100. 

Hell,  203,  347. 

Hermits,  22,  42. 

Hideyoshi,  136  ff.,  146,  342. 

Hieizan,  99,  101,  106,  108,  116,  117, 

123,  134,  137. 
Higashi  Hongwanji,  312. 
Higher  Criticism,  in  Buddhism,  174. 
Himitsukyo,  95. 
Hinayana,    10,    165  ff. ;    Schools  of, 

175,  345. 


Hinduism,  58,  237,  335. 

Hoben,  187  ff. 

Hodo  Period,  172. 

Hojo  Regents,  131. 

Hokke  Period,  173. 

Hokkekyo,  125,  173, 

Honda,  Bishop,  7. 

Honen,  106  ff.,  342. 

Horyuji,  84,  85,  100. 

Hoshin  Butsu,  208. 

Hosso  Sect,  86,  262,  336. 

Hozo   Bosatsu,    107,   222,   239,   255, 

259,  339, 
Hue,  68. 

Human  Life,  Conception  of,  237  ff. 
Hungry  Spirits,  Realm  of,  203. 
Hweiti,  Emperor,  72. 

Idolatry,  in  Buddhism,  316  ff. 

leyasu,  136  ff.,  144,  146,  228. 

Ignorance,  as  first  of  the  Twelve 
Nidanas,  189,  190,  346;  as  Car- 
dinal Vice,  278. 

Igyodo,  252,  254  ff. 

Ikegami,  127. 

Illusion,  in  Buddhist  Theory  of 
Knowledge,  184  ff. 

Impermanence,  Doctrine  of,  25  ff. 

Inari,  228,  231,  250. 

Indeterminates,  The  Great,  33,  34. 

India,  Buddhism  in,  10,  13  ff. 

Indra,  229. 

Indriyas,  193. 

Ingen,  142. 

Inhabitation,  as  Second  Stage  of  a 
Universe,  200. 

Inouye,  Enryo,  174. 

Inouye,  Tetsujiro,  222,  316,  318  ff. 

Ippen,  128. 

Ito  Jinsai,  148. 

Ito  T5gai,  148. 

Izanagi  and  Izanami,  228. 

Jaina  Sect,  335. 

Jalandhara,  Council  of,  335. 

Japan,  Buddhism  in,  10,  79  ff. 

Java,  Buddhism  of,  10. 

Jesuits,  140,  146. 

Jews,  71. 

Ji  Sect,  217, 

Jie,  102. 

Jigoku,  203. 

Jikaku,  92,  105,  116. 

Jimmu  Tenno,  150. 

Jingo,  Empress,  80, 

Jiriki,  252  ff. 

Jizo,  228,  250. 

Job,  239. 


INDEX 


357 


J5do  Sect,  106  ff.,  112,  128,  134,  142, 

178,  217  ff.,  336,  342. 
Jodomon,  109,  252,  254  ff. 
Jojitsu  Sect,  86,  336. 
Josetsu,  300. 
Jukai,  209. 

Kaibara  Ekiken,  146. 

Kalasoka,  54. 

Kalpa,  204,  339. 

Kamakura  Period,  102  ff. 

Kamakura  Shogunate,  131,  340. 

Kamadhatu,  201. 

Kambodsha  Alphabet,  170. 

Kant,  185,  309. 

Kanishka,  65,  335. 

Kapilavastu,  22,  23. 

Karma,  Doctrine  of  in  India,  19, 
34  ff. ;  in  Gautama's  System, 
34  ff. ;  Relation  to  Transmigra- 
tion, 19 ;  Causal-Nexus,  35 ; 
Moism,  209  ;  Natural  Law,  305  ; 
Self,  34  ff. ;  Good  and  Evil,  233  ff. ; 
Wheel  of  Life,  202  ff. 

Katha-Vatthu,  55. 

Kegon  Period,  172. 

Kegon  Scripture,  86,  172. 

Kegon  Sect,  86,  178,  336,  337. 

Kegonkyo,  86,  172. 

Kenkoji,  117. 

Kenninji,  117. 

"Ki  and  Ri,"  144. 

Kishi  Bojin,  228. 

Kishinron,  66. 

Knowledge,  Theory  of,  184  ff. 

Kobo  Daishi,  89,  90,  94  ff.,  225. 

Kofukuji,  101,  196,  133,  134. 

Kojiki,  87,  297,  298,  338. 

Kompira,  228,  250. 

Kongokai,  96. 

Konishi,  General,  138. 

Korea,  Buddhism  of,  77. 

Kosala,  23. 

Koshin,  228. 

Koyasan,  95,  99. 

Kublaikhan,  77. 

Kudara,  77. 

Kukai  (see  K5b5),  90. 

Kumarajiva,  73,  218. 

Kumazawa  Banzan,  145,  147. 

Kusha  Sect,  86. 

Kuya,  102,  106,  128. 

Kwammu,  Emperor,  89,  90,  101. 

KwammuryojukyS,  173,  178. 

Kwannon  (see  also  Avalokitesvara) , 
229,  250,  339. 

Kyoto,     Civilization,     100;      Sects, 
89  ff.,  129,  133. 


Lamaism,  67,  77. 

Lao-tse,  328. 

Latent  Impressions,  as  second  of  the 

Twelve  Nidanas,  221,  346. 
Law-Body  of  Buddha,  208,  221  ff. 
Leibniz,  202. 

Liang-Wuti,  Emperor,  75. 
Literati,  74. 
Lloyd,  A.  C,  69. 
Lokaraksha,  72,  73. 
Lotus  Scripture,  178,  217. 
Luck,  Seven  Gods  of,  227,  249. 
Luther,  107,  109. 

Madhyamika  School,  85. 

Magadha,  23,  44,  169. 

Magadhi,  169,  170. 

Magas  of  Cyrene,  54. 

Magic,  in  Shingon,  95,  338. 

Mahaparinirvana-Sutra,  173. 

Mahaprajnaparamita-Sutra,  92,  173. 

Mahayana,  10,  165  ff. ;  Relation  to 
Hinayana,  11,  61,  165,  174  ff. ; 
Hinduism,  63,  68 ;  Western 
Thought,  62,  63,  68;  Sources  of, 
58  ff.,  310;  Characteristics  of,  11. 
56  ff.,  61  ;    Development  of,  51  ff. 

Maitreya,  95,  96,  205,  264,  265. 

Man,  Doctrine  of,  223  ff. 

Manchuria,  Buddhism  of,  10. 

Mani,  62. 

Manichaeism,  62,  97. 

Manjusri,  96. 

Mantra  Sutras,  176. 

Manyoshu,  88. 

Mara,  41,  205. 

Marga,  330. 

Martyrs,  Christian,  in  Japan,  141. 

Maudgaliputra,  55. 

Max  Mueller,  159. 

Meditation,  in  Zen,  116  ff. 

Meditation  Regions,  205. 

Meiji  Tenno,  230. 

Memyo  (see  Asvaghosha),  336. 

Mencius,  144. 

Merit,  75. 

Middle  Path,  29,  30,  192,  326,  334. 

Miidera,  93,  101,  106,  134. 

Minamoto,  Family  of,  108,  339. 

Ming-Ti,  Emperor,  70,  71. 

Minobu,  127. 

Miroku  (see  also  Maitreya),  95,  229. 

Mitliras,  62,  69,  260. 

Mito  School,  147. 

Mitsukuni,  Tokugawa,  150,  152, 

Monadology,  of  Leibniz,  202. 

Monasteries,  44,  133,  137. 

Mongolia,  Buddhism  of,  10. 


358 


INDEX 


Mongols,  124. 

Monistic  Substance,  144,  196  ff. 

Monju,  229. 

Monks,  133,  157. 

Monk's  Rules  (see  ako  Vinaya),  169. 

Monotheism,  in  Amida  Sects,  217  ff. ; 
in  Confucianism,  145 ;  in  Rig- 
Veda,  15 ;  in  Shinto,  303. 

Monto.  259. 

Moral  Wisdom,  145. 

Morality,  273,  276. 

Morals,  Progress  of,  100  S. 

Motoori  Norinaga,  151. 

Mujaku,  336. 

Muktapushpa,  96. 

Mumayado,  S3. 

Murdoch,  101,  338,  341. 

Muro  Kyuso,  146. 

Mushikikai,  201. 

Music,  in  Buddhism,  301. 

Mystery,  95. 

Nagarjuna,    64    ff.,    175,    218,   336, 

347. 
Nakae  T5ju,  148. 
Naka-no-Oye,  337. 
Namarupa,  346. 
Name  and   Form,   as  fourth  of  the 

Twelve  Nidanas,  190,  346. 
"Namu  Amida  Butsu,"  93,  219. 
"Namii    Myoho    Renge    Kyo,"    93, 

125,  180. 
Nangyodo,  252  ff. 
Nanjo  Bunyu,  158,  159. 
Napoleon,  342. 
Nara  Daibutsu,  87,  88. 
Nara  Period,  87,  89,  99,  105. 
Nara  Sects,  85  ff.,  99,  101,  104,  129. 
Nara  II.,  Emperor,  132. 
Naraka,  203. 
National  Doctors,  338. 
Negation,  in  Buddhism,  195. 
Nehan  Sect,  336. 
Nehankyo,  173. 
Nembutsu,  102,  104,  106. 
Neophytes,  Buddhist,  157. 
Nepal,  Buddhism  of,  10. 
Nescience,  Theory  of,  188  ff. 
Nestorian  Monument,  218. 
Nestorian  Mission,  63,  70,  218. 
New  Testament,  158. 
Neo-Buddhists,  312  ff.,  323,  326. 
Neo-Confucianism,  136,  143  ff.,  308, 

310 ;   Schools  of,  143  ff. ;   Relation 

to  Restoration,  147. 
Neo-Pantheism,  232. 
Neo-Shinto,  174,  308,  310. 
Nichiren,  123  ff.,  129,  180,  265,  341. 


Nichiren  Sect,  93,  122  ff.,  142,  178, 
ISO,  312. 

Nidanas.  The  Twelve,  190,  346. 

Nihongi,  87,  297,  298,  338. 

Nikayas,  169,  175. 

Nikko  Temples,  142. 

Ni-0,  229. 

Nirmanakaya,  208,  221. 

Nirvana,  241  ff. ;  in  Primitive 
Buddhism,  34,  37,  39,  40,  241; 
as  Anniliilation,  49 ;  of  the  Pas- 
sions, 244;  as  an  "Escape  and  an 
Entrance,"  242  ff. ;  as  Buddha 
State,  244;  as  the  Four  Holies, 
242  ;  as  Amida's  Paradise,  245  ff. ; 
Relation  to  God-idea,  244  ff. 

Nirvana-Sutra,  218. 

Noble  Eightfold  Path,  The,  25,  29, 
32,  33,  118,  133,  172,  330. 

Nobunaga,  134,  136  ff.,  146. 

Non-duality,  Dharma  of,  1S6. 

Non-ego  and  Karma,  28  ff.,  329. 

Noumenal  World,  1S6  ff.,  196  ff. 

Nukariya  Kaifu,  175. 

Nuns,  Buddhist,  46. 

Nyorai,  218,  219,  221,  329. 

Obaku  Sect,  142,  214. 

Ogiu  Sorai,  148. 

Ojin  Butsu,  208,  221. 

Ojin  Tenno,  80. 

Ojoyoshu,  107. 

Olopun,  218. 

Old  Testament,  62. 

Oneness,  Doctrine  of,  197. 

Onomuji,  or  Okuni  Nushi,  229. 

Oyomei,  143,  144;   School  of,  143  ff. 

Painting,  in  Buddhism,  300,  301. 

Pakche,  77. 

Pali  Canon  (see  also  Canon) ,  169,  345. 

Pali  Language,  170. 

Pali  Text  Society,  158. 

Pantheism,  224  ff. ;  in  Pre-Buddhist 
Literature  ;  in  Shingon  and  Tendai, 
244  ff. ;  Relation  of  Phenomenal 
and  Noumenal  World  in,  225 ; 
Personality  in,  225  ff. ;  Atheism 
and  Theism,  226  ;  Polytheism,  322. 

Pantheon,  of  Shinto  and  Buddhism, 
98. 

Paradise  (see  also  Nirvana),  58,  323, 
347,  348. 

Paradise  Scriptures,  173. 

Paramitas,  208,  282,  347. 

Pataliputra,  Council  of,  54,  335. 

Patriotism  and  Shrine  Worship,  343. 

Paul,  Apostle,  188. 


INDEX 


359 


Pepp6,  W.  C,  47. 

Persecutions,  of  Buddhists  in  China, 

74    ff. ;     of    Christiana    in   Japan, 

140  ff. 
Personality,    in   Buddhism,    221    ff., 

225  ff. 
Pessimism,  49,  317. 
Phenomenal  World,  186,  196. 
Philosophy,    Buddhist    Influence    on 

Japanese,  303  ff. 
Pitaka,  166. 

Pluralistic  World,  199  ff. 
Poetry,  Influence  on,  302. 
Polytheism,  226  ff. ;  in  Pre-Buddhist 

Religion,  15,   16 ;    Relation  to  the 

Absolute  of  Philosophy,   227;     to 

Agnosticism,   326 ;    to   Pantheism, 

230;    Bodliisattva  Ideal,  243;    as 

Religion,  226  ff.,  322. 
Pomash,  70. 

Popular  Deities,  List  of,  227  ff. 
Pratyeka  Buddha,  208,  209. 
Pretas,  203. 

Priests,  Buddhist,  133,  157,  314,  316. 
Propaganda,  Buddhist,  154. 
Propagandists,  157. 
"Provisional  Self,"  319. 
Psychology,  Buddhist,  319,  323,  340. 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  54. 
Purana,  53. 
Pure   Land    Sects    (see    also   Amida 

Sects),  69,  91. 

Rahula,  23. 

Rajagriha,  Council  of,  53,  168,  169, 

335. 
Rational  Principle,  144,  197  ff. 
Ratna  Shoaya,  96. 
Ratnasambhava,  96. 
Reincarnation,  Doctrine  of  (see  also 

Transmigration),  234. 
Relative  Truth,  184  ff. 
Relativity  of  Truth,  321  ff. 
Religion;  4,  5,  7,  270,  277 ;   Buddhist 

Influence    on    Japanese,    303    ff. ; 

State,  152,  153. 
Rennyo,  112,  1.35,  219,  223. 
Restoration,  The,  150,  152,  308,  310. 
Rhys-Da\'ids,  29. 
Rig-Veda,  14,  15,  171. 
Riku  Shosan,  143,  144. 
Rinzai  Sect  (see  also  Zen),  115,  142. 
Rissho  Ankoku  Ron,  123,  126. 
Ritsu  Sect,  87,  336. 
Ritsuzo,  166. 
Roku  Yokuten,  205. 
Ronzo,  166. 
Rupadhatu,  201. 


Ryobu  Shinto,  79,  98. 
Ryonin,  104. 
RyujQ,  336. 

Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  159. 

Saddharma-Pundarlka-Sutra,  58,  59, 
92,  125,  173. 

Saga,  Emperor,  94. 

Saicho  {see  also  Dengyo),  90. 

S'akyamuni  (see  also  The  Buddha 
and  Gautama),  92,  95,  96,  112, 
329. 

S'akyans,  23,  47,  48,  58. 

Salvation,  Doctrine  of,  251  ff. ;  in 
Gautama's  System,  32,  37,  38, 
253  ;  Varied  Meanings  of,  60,  244  ; 
as  Amida's  Paradise,  245 ;  as 
Ethical,  249,  250;  in  Popular 
Buddhism,  249  ff. ;  as  Nirvana, 
241  ff. ;  Essence  of,  240  ff. ;  Ways 
of,  252  ff.,  262  ff.,  305  ff. 

Samantabhadra,  96. 

Sambhogakaya,  208,  221. 

Samboin,  330. 

Sameness,  Theory  of,  197  ff, 

Samskara,  346. 

Samudaya,  330. 

Samyukta-Pitaka,  167. 

Sankai,  201. 

Sanron  Sect,  85,  178,  262,  336. 

Sanse,  199  ff. 

Sansembo,  108. 

Sanskrit  Language,  170. 

Savior-idea,  in  Amidaism,  259. 

Schisms,  43,  45,  53,  130. 

Schopenhauer,  36,  235,  334. 

Sculpture,  Buddhist,  299  ff. 

Sects,  Twelve  Chinese,  336  ;  Twelve 
Japanese,  130,  155 ;  Subdivisions 
of,  130,  156. 

Seimei,  Eng,  77,  80. 

Self,  Doctrine  of,  in  Primitive 
Buddhism,  27,  31,  32,  329-334; 
in  Zen  Thought,  118,  216;  in 
Hinayana,  193  ff. ;  in  Mahaj'ana, 
196;  Universal  Self,  118,  216,  340; 
Provisional  Self,  235;  as  Will-to- 
be,  235. 

Sengen,  229. 

Sensation,  as  seventh  of  the  Twelve 
Nidanas,  190,  346. 

Seshin,  336. 

"Seven  Fetters,  The,"  278. 

"Seven  Prides,  The,"  279. 

Shaka  (sec  also  S'akyamuni),  as 
Popular  Deity,  229. 

Shikikai,  201. 

Shimushiki,  206. 


360 


INDEX 


Shin  Sect,  108  ff.,  128,  178,  342; 
Doctrine  of  Grace  in,  112,  254  ff., 
263;  God-idea  in,  111,  217  ff . ; 
Future  Life  in,  113,  245  ff. ;  Con- 
ception of  Sin  in,  113,  245,  258; 
Comparison  with  Gautama's  Sys- 
tem, 112  ff. ;  Future  of  in  Japan, 
115;   Revival  of,  142,  312. 

Shingon  Sect,  67,  90,  94  ff.,  116,  117, 
123,  142,  178,  181,  312,  336. 

Shinnyo  (see  also  Absolute  and 
Noumenal  World),  196  ff. 

Shinran,  108  ff.,  132,  142. 

Sliinto,  1,  82,  83,  153,  303,  311,  336, 
343. 

Shirakawa,  Emperor,  100,  101. 

Shirakawa  II.,  Emperor,  342. 

Shitai,  330. 

Shi-Tenno,  229. 

Shodomon,  109,  252  ff. 

Shojo,  165. 

Shomon,  207,  208. 

Sh5mu,  Emi^eror,  88. 

Shoreiiin,  108. 

Shotoku,  Empress,  89. 

Shotoku,  Taishi,  84,  105. 

Shoyo  Daishi,  117. 

Shura,  203. 

Shushi,  143  ff. 

Siam,  Buddhism  in,  10,  55. 

Siamese  Alphabet,  170. 

Siddhartha,  22,  25. 

Sikkim,  Buddhism  of,  10. 

Sin  and  E\-il,  239,  240,  276. 

Sins  of  the  Body,  279. 

Sins  of  the  Mind,  279. 

Sins  of  the  Mouth,  279. 

Sinanfu,  63,  70. 

Siva,  16,  69. 

Sivaite  Gods,  67. 

"Six  Perfections,  The,"  282,  283. 

"Six  Roots,  The,"  as  the  fifth  of  the 
Twelve  Nidanas,  190,  346. 

"Six  Virtues,  The,"  243,  347. 

"Six  Ways,  The,"  202  ff.,  209.  264. 

Skandhas,  The  Five,  36,  193,  337. 

Soga  Mumako,  82. 

Soga  no  Iname,  81. 

Sogei  Shuchiin,  94. 

Sojiji,  119. 

Soron  Sect,  336. 

Soseki,  135. 

Soto  Sect   {see  also  Zen),   117,   135, 

142. 
Soul  (see  also  Self  and  Nirvana),  18, 

19,  20,  36. 
Space,  Conception  of,  200  ff. 
Sparsa,  346. 


Spencer,  Herbert,  212,  369. 

Spheres  of  Existence,  192  ff. 

Spinoza,  233. 

Sravaka,  207,  208. 

Subhadra,  53. 

Suddhodana,  23. 

Suffering,  Doctrine  of,  27,  29,  31. 

Suiko,  Empress,  83,  84. 

Suitengu,  229. 

Sukhavati-Vyuha,  173. 

Sumatra,  Buddhism  of,  10. 

Sumeru,  203  ff. 

Summary    Teachings   of   Buddhism, 

183. 
Sun  Goddess,  88. 
Sunday  School,  Buddhist,  312. 
Surya,  16. 
Susa-no-5, 
Sutra-Pitaka,  166. 
Svastika,  48. 
Syncretism,  4,  86,  98,  144. 

Tagore,  18. 

Taikaku,  Emperor,  150. 

Taikwa  Reforms,  85,  337,  338,  343. 

Taira,  Family  of,  339. 

Takakura,  Emperor,  342. 

Takauji,  135. 

Takuan,  343. 

Taoism,  73,  144. 

Tariki,  252,  254  ff. 

"Tat  tvam  asi,"  17. 

Tathagata  (sec  also  Nyorai),  29,  329. 

Temples,  129,  157,  219. 

"Ten    Commandments,    The,"    277, 

279,  280. 
"Ten  Evils,  The,"  279. 
"Ten  Names  of  the  Buddha,  The," 

329. 
"Ten  Perfections,  The,"  282. 
"Ten    Realms,    Regions    or    Worlds, 

The,"  60,  209,  221,  233,  242. 
"Ten  Virtues,  The,"  280,  347. 
Tenchi,  Emperor,  337. 
Tendai  Sect,  91,  92  ff.,  99,  102,  105, 

106,   108,   123,  125,   126,  141,   142, 

165,  178,  312,  336. 
Tenjin,  229. 
Tenjo,  203,  205. 
Tenkai,  139,  343. 
"Tenmei  Kaigo,"  183,  184. 
Tennoji,  180. 
Tenrikyo,  311. 
Theism,  217  ff. 

Things  to  Come,  Doctrine  of,  264  ff. 
Thomas,  St.,  71. 
Thought-Substance,   as  third  of  the 

Twelve  Nidanas,  190,  346. 


INDEX 


361 


"Three    Bodies    of    Buddha,    The," 

208,  220  ff.,  281. 
"Three  Conceptions,  or  Law  Seals, 

The,"  25  ff.,  329,  330. 
"Three  Evils,  The,"  207. 
"Three  Poisons,  The,"  278. 
"Three  Realms,  The,"  201  ff.,  209. 
"Three  Treasures,  The,"  257,  281. 
"Three  Worlds,  The,"  199,  215,  217, 

262. 
"Thousand  Worlds,  The,"  201. 
Tibet,  Buddhism  in,  10,  77. 
Time,  Conception  of,  200  ff. 
Toba,  Emperor,  104. 
Toba  II.,  Emperor,  342. 
Todaiji  Bell,  87. 
Togo,  Admiral,  230. 
Toji,  95. 
Tokugawa,    Period,    141 ;     Shoguns, 

136  ff.,  141,  342. 
Tominaga  Nakamoto,  151,  174. 
Toshogu,  229. 
Toyo-Uke-Bime,  229. 
Trailokya,  201. 
Transmigration,  Doctrine  of,  19,  34, 

202,  206. 
Trichna,  346. 
Trikaya,  208,  220. 
Tripitaka,  158,  166. 
Triple  Confession,  The,  42. 
Tri\ndya,  329. 

Truth,  Conception  of,  184  ff.,  321. 
Tsuchimikado  II.,  Emperor,  132. 
Turkestan,  Buddhism  of  East,  10. 
Twelve  Links   of   the   Karma-chain, 

The,  189,  330,  346. 
Two  Spheres,  The,  199. 

Ultimate,  The,  212,  216. 
Universe,  Conception  of,  222  ff. 
Unknowable,  The  Great,  212,  322. 
Upadana,  346. 
Upanishads,  15,  19,  20. 
Uruvela,  42. 

Vaidehi,  Queen,  69. 
Vairochana,  88,  96. 
Vaisali,  Council  of,  53,  335. 
Vasubandhu,  64,  66,  336,  347. 
Vayu,  16. 
Vedana,  346. 


Vedic  Gods,  15,  16. 
Vedic  Hymns,  14. 
Vices,  The,  277  ff. 
Vidjnana,  346. 
Vinaya-Pitaka,  166. 
Vinaya  Sect,  87. 
Virtues,  The,  280  ff. 
Vishnu,  16,  65. 

Voidness,   as  fourth  stage  of  a  uni- 
verse, 200  ff. 
Vow,  The  Great,  of  Hozo,  340. 

Wanderers,  22,  42. 
Wars  of  Succession,  131. 
Wheel  of  Life,  21,  32,  37,  38,  49,  207. 
Will,  The,  in  Buddhist  Ethics,  275. 
"World-Honored-One,  The,"  10. 
World  of  Enlightenment,  The,  209. 
World  of  Ignorance,  The,  209. 
World  Views,  Buddhist,  192  ff. 
Wu-tsung,  Emperor,  76. 

Xavier,  137,  306. 

Yajnavalkya,  21. 

Yakushi  Nyorai,  229. 

Yamaga  Soko,  148. 

Yamato  Damashii,  82,  337. 

Yamazaki  Anzai,  146. 

"Yaoyorozu  no  Kamigami,"  230. 

Yoga  School,  86. 

Yokukai,  201. 

Yoritomo,  131,  340,  341,  342. 

Yoshimasa,  132. 

Yoshimitsu,  131,  132,  134. 

Young   Men's  Buddhist  Association, 

154,  312. 
Yudzu  Nembutsu  Sect,  104  ff..  Ill, 

217. 

Zazen,  118  ff. 

Zen  Sect,  93,  115  ff.,  128,  132,  133, 
142  ff.,  178,  181,  214,  244,  263, 
336,  340,  342;  Rinzai^  115,  178, 
214;  Soto,  117,  214;  Obaku,  142, 
214. 

Zendo,  70,  107,  218  ff.,  347. 

Zengen,  196. 

Z6,  166. 

Z6j5ji,  142,  161. 

Zoroastrianism,  62. 


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